If You Love Someone
by onceuponanoriginal
Summary: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE FOLLOWING FIC, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MIYA TANAKA AND CLO TAMURA. Will keep summary short but sweet, so as not to ruin any surprises ;) Michi fic, some chapters will be pretty long so be sure to have plenty of spare time on your hands! Rated M for some adult content. Please review! :)
1. Chapter 1 - Home

First chapter is pretty short and uneventful. Still, hope you enjoy reading it, please review!

**CHAPTER ONE** -** HOME**

Mimi stood and stared in awe at the sight before her. When her father had told her that he had bought her a place to live for when she arrived back in Japan, she had expected a small apartment. The house in front of her was big and although it had certain Japanese accents, it looked highly westernised, almost like a slightly smaller version of the house she and her father had lived in back in New York, and she couldn't be quite certain that she had arrived at the right address. _Surely not,_ she thought. Still, she walked up to the door and tried the key she had been given. The door opened and she stepped inside. Her heels clicked on the wood floor and the sound echoed back at her. She spotted a small table behind the door with a lamp and what looked like a letter on it. Mimi tentatively opened the envelope and pulled out a small piece of paper.

_Welcome home, princess. I have had several items from NY shipped over to you, like your pink shower curtain, vanity table, the photograph of you and your brother, and a small surprise in the kitchen, to make you feel more at home._

_I hope you will be very happy in your new home, and I promise to visit as often as I can._

_Your mother would be so proud of you._

_Love you always sweetheart,_

_Daddy._

Mimi smiled sadly. She missed her father already, and she hoped what he had said about her mother being proud of her was true. She had passed away four years previously, and it had been the darkest time in Mimi's life. Her mother had been her mom, sister and best friend, all wrapped up into one amazing person.

Placing the note in the back pocket of her jeans, Mimi suddenly realised that she was alone. For the first time in her life, she had no family around her, no one to look out for her. Her father and younger brother were a gazillion miles away in the States, and now she had to live in this big beautiful house by herself, doing proper grown up things, like chores and paying bills. Her adult life up til now had mostly consisted of college and many photoshoots, travelling around America and building her reputation as a hugely sought-after model, modelling clothes, cosmetics and hair products, always having people bustling around her, fussing over her, never having to do things for herself. She shivered. She had been waiting for the independence she would gain by coming back to Japan with great anticipation, but now she felt like a child in a secluded forest. Lost, lonely, and a little frightened. Attempting to shake off her anxiety, Mimi straightened her posture and decided to go and see what the 'small surprise in the kitchen' was.

She let out a quiet giggle when she stepped into the kitchen. Her 'surprise' consisted of four hot pink barstools around an island. Mimi had spotted them while out shopping with her mother one day and persuaded her to buy six after falling in love with them. Upon seeing the bright pink seats in their otherwise stark, monochrome kitchen, her father had been less than impressed and informed the Tachikawa girls that they were 'outrageous'. Mimi and her mother had agreed wholeheartedly, but maintained that that was the reason they loved them. It was also the reason they stayed right where they were, until now. There was another note on one of the stools. It read:

_To remind you of home. I kept two to keep you and your mother close to me always._

She smiled in the realisation that her daddy loved and missed her and her mama very much, no matter how much time he spent away on business trips, no matter how rare it was that they spent any time together. She perched on one of the stools and started to reminisce her childhood and teen years, her eyes brimming with tears of both sadness and happiness as she recalled the memories of the life they had together, Mimi, her wonderful, kind, generous parents, and her brother, who, although he was three years younger, was her protector. She was still deep in thought when a flashing light caught the corner of her eye and snapped her out of it. She walked over to the phone on the kitchen counter. _One new voicemail._ She pressed a button and listened closely to the fast talking voice.

'Hey Meems, it's me. I know your modelling and travelling and whatever has made it difficult to find time to chat recently, so your dad emailed me with your new address and phone number and since it's been TEN years, we just gotta hang out soon! I'm free this Saturday, so put on your hottest LBD 'cuz we're hitting the town!'

Mimi grinned as she felt her feelings of loneliness fade. Her anxiety and sense of isolation were slowly replaced by the excitement of seeing her childhood friends again.

'Kay, I gotta go, but I'll show you a good time this weekend, promise! Love ya!'

_Beeeep._

'Good old Sora,' Mimi whispered through her smile, realising that she might not be alone for long after all.


	2. Chapter 2 - Old Friends

**CHAPTER TWO – OLD FRIENDS**

Mimi stumbled through the front door of her house, carrying groceries and narrowly avoiding the flash from the camera of a man waiting for her. She sighed. She was less known here, and she had hoped she'd get some peace and quiet. It wasn't all bad though. She had only been recognised twice, and the first one hadn't even known her name, just memorised her face from a magazine they'd bought when they'd been on vacation in the USA.

She had loved her job, and anyone who had met her on photoshoots had loved her. Despite her obvious beauty and fame in the States, Mimi was humble, kind, down-to-earth, and when congratulated on a strikingly remarkable portfolio, she would insist on giving ninety nine per cent of the credit to 'good lighting and talented makeup artists'. She had enjoyed years of being paid to wear beautiful clothes, go to parties and attend fancy dinners, but around the time her mother died she had started to feel isolated, lonely. More bad experiences followed, causing Mimi to feel like her life was becoming increasingly empty. She would find herself surrounded by people and still feel like she was standing by herself. Having grown tired of the hectic yet lonely lifestyle, Mimi had decided that it was time to call it a day, or at least take a break. She hoped she would still have her looks if she decided to return to the industry in a few years. But deep down she knew that the novelty of having fame and money had worn off, and she had finally decided upon going back to Japan, living on her impressive savings for a while, then getting back to the real world and finding a nice, normal job of her own. _Back to the real world,_ she thought. _Ironic._

She was still thinking about her time in the Digital World when she finished putting away her groceries and made her way to her bedroom. Flinging open the huge closet doors, she walked inside and pondered on what to wear. Tonight was the night she would see Sora again and celebrate their reunion by getting very drunk, just the two of them making up for lost time, and she was excited to say the least. Nervous, but excited. Eventually it was decided that a black jersey dress would grace her figure tonight, a slightly tight but beautiful little number, with long sleeves and hem short enough to show off her long tanned legs. It hugged her figure perfectly, and despite it being short it could get away with being called classy, due to its high neckline. _Boobs OR legs, never both._ That had always been Mimi's number one rule. Next was shoes. A huge collection of shoes revealed themselves to Mimi when she pushed her dresses to one side. A mass of flats, wedges and spectacularly high heels in a million different colours. She settled on a pair of black pumps with a high heel. _Simple, but perfect_, she thought, smiling as she slipped them on and admired them in the mirror. She was no more than five feet six, pretty short in comparison with most other models, but she more than made up for that with her pretty face, relatively long toned legs, and envy inducing thick brunette hair. These particular shoes added about five inches to her height, and she felt _amazing_ in them. Shaking her long mane of dark hair, she smoothed out her dress, sat down at her vanity table and got to work on her face.

Mimi looked at herself in her mirror and smiled. She looked good, and for the first time in a long time, she felt it. She threw on a chunky gold necklace and bracelet to brighten up her black outfit a little and checked her makeup for flaws. _Nope._ Her dark smoky eyes were perfect and she was having a good skin day, only having to conceal a small blemish on her jawline. She always felt more confident and motivated when she had a decent face of makeup and good hair, and tonight she felt better than she had in a long time. Mimi wasn't a vain woman in the slightest, but on occasion she would allow herself to appreciate her appearance when she had made an effort. Just as she was mulling over her excitement of a long awaited night out with Sora, the doorbell rang. Mimi braced herself and threw open the door.

'MIMI!' Sora threw herself at her, nearly knocking her over, making them both laugh hysterically.

'Sora, you've not changed a bit,' said Mimi, composing herself after the intense reunion. It was true, Sora had never been a dress kind of girl and tonight was no exception. She was wearing tight black skinny jeans and a sequined red top with red peep toe heels, almost bringing her to Mimi's height. Mimi noted that Sora looked fantastic despite the fact that her dress sense was so different to her own. _They were gonna break some hearts tonight._

After a couple of glasses of wine, Mimi and Sora were chatting like absolutely no time had passed.

'I can't believe it's been ten years,' said Sora in disbelief.

'_I_ can't believe I'm nearly twenty nine,' replied Mimi in mock misery. 'I'll be hobbling to nightclubs on my Zimmer frame soon.' They laughed and Sora downed the rest of her glass.

'Eight o clock. Come on, Joe's picking us up.'

Mimi stared at her.

'Joe's coming?'

'Yeah but he doesn't drink all that often so he offered to stay sober and play taxi driver for the night,' Sora replied with a wink.

Right on cue, a car horn sounded outside.

'Let's be off then,' smiled Mimi, linking her arm in Sora's.

She couldn't mistake that mop of blue hair if her life depended on it. Joe was leant on his car, waving to the girls, and Mimi ran up to him and enveloped him in a hug.

'It's been way too long, Joe!' she exclaimed, taking him in. His hair and glasses were the only things that hadn't changed. He was tall, very tall and his features were sharp. He was dressed smartly in a dark blue shirt and black trousers.

'You're telling me,' Joe replied. His eyes immediately darted up and down her body. He'd always known she was pretty, but my god, America had been good to her. She was glowing.

'Enough chit chat, let's go!' Sora grabbed Mimi's arm and shoved her into the passenger seat while she climbed into the back, barely able to contain her excitement. Mimi was also excited, but she wondered what had got Sora so hyped up.

'What's going on, Sor?'

Sora winked at her.

'I didn't wanna say anything yet, but I have a surprise for you…'

_Don't need no bargain, need no sale, I want the best I dress me well,  
love Cavalli, dipped in Versace,  
Chick ain't cheap and everybody knows…_

Rihanna's lyrics thumped in the girls' ears as they squeezed through the crowd of dancing people, breathing sighs of relief when they finally reached the bar. Sora ordered the first round and dragged Mimi off to dance, her throat tingling with the satisfying burn of the shot she'd just downed. Nights out were Sora's release. She worked hard at what she did – designing clothes – and letting loose with her friends when the week was over was her way of unwinding. It was also a method of reminding herself that no matter how hard she worked and how important her career was to her, that she was still a young woman of twenty eight, and she deserved to have some fun every once in a while.

Sora looked around. _No sign yet,_ she thought to herself. _Where's Joe got to?_ She was eager to see the look on Mimi's face when she saw what she had in store for her.

'Vodka?' Mimi shouted over the mass of people. 'My round!'

'Sure!' replied Sora, hoping Mimi could lip read. _God it was loud in here. _'I'm gonna go outside for a crafty one!'

Mimi shook her head, laughing, and made her way back to the bar. Sora pushed through the dancing bodies and stumbled outside. Lighting up her cigarette she thought about how smoothly everything was going. She had been nervous about seeing Mimi again, since it had been so long. She had practised what she was going to say to her numerous times, and she'd changed her outfit seven times and straightened her red hair over and over to distract herself from her nerves. Now she wondered what she was worried about in the first place. It was just like old times, apart from the fact that it was now legal for them to drink. She smirked as she recalled the first time she and Mimi had drunk alcohol. They were sixteen and had sneaked some of Mr Tachikawa's most expensive wine and drank it at the park, and after only half the bottle they were struggling to stand. Sora had suggested that they go back to hers since she had the apartment to herself for the weekend, but found themselves lost less than a quarter of a mile from their destination. Sora, who seemed to have lost control of her legs by now, pulled out her phone to call for help, and dropped it in a puddle. Giggling, Mimi had called their friend Matt, and he had had to come find them and walk them back to Sora's place. She was abruptly snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of an unimpressed Mimi.

'Tut tut, dirty habit!' she laughed as she handed Sora her drink.

'You know you're tempted!' replied Sora, breathing out an unhealthy plume of smoke.

It was true, Mimi _was_ tempted. She had smoked since she was twenty, and had made the sensible decision to kick the habit just three weeks ago. She was still nagged by her cravings, especially when the people around her would light up. But she was strong willed, and so far she had done well. She was proud of herself for it.

'So what's my surprise?' Mimi asked, distracting herself from the urge to snatch the cigarette from Sora's hand and relieve the craving.

'Right on cue,' Joe said, appearing as if from nowhere and joining Sora at her side, glancing over Mimi's shoulder.

'Mimi Tachikawa, hot dayum!'

Mimi didn't even need to turn around to know who was checking her out. She recognised that drawling voice anywhere. She hesitated for a moment, subconsciously preparing herself, smiled and turned to look at him. He looked _hot_, all shaggy blonde hair and an amazing physique, and it took Mimi a couple of seconds to get her act together.

'Yamato Ishida, you never change,' she said, throwing her arms around him and feeling the same kind of warmth and friendship as she had the last time they'd hugged, when they were eighteen years old and waiting at the airport for Mimi's flight.

'Life's clearly treated you well,' laughed Matt, putting her back down and composing himself.

'What can I say, would I ever let my life be anything less than awesome?' she replied. She suddenly remembered the feelings of loneliness she had experienced since her mother's death, but quickly pushed them to the back of her mind, not wanting anyone to pity her.

'I guess not, once a princess always a princess,' he smirked. That smirk was famous to anyone who knew him. Matt had been somewhat of a heartbreaker in school, capable of getting any girl he wanted just by paying them a compliment and giving them that smirk. He was aware of the fact that having always been a talented musician and being the lead singer in his band The Wolves had helped too, and he always used it to his maximum advantage. Yamato Ishida had developed a reputation as the guy every girl wanted to be with and every guy wanted to be. And even now, ten years later, it was easy to see why.

Mimi laughed and held her hand to her chest. 'I'm hurt Matt, I really am,' she said in mock horror. 'I'm a big girl now, not some spoiled little brat.' She laughed and he held his hands up in defence.

'Never said you were… _princess_,' he replied, putting an excessive amount of emphasis on his last word.

'Alright, enough of the flirting, it's painful!' a voice cried, causing Mimi to turn so suddenly she nearly tripped over her own feet.

'Izzy!' she squealed. She could hardly believe it. Yet there he was, running one hand through his red hair and resting the other one on his hip. Puberty had been good to him. As a kid he was always shorter than the other boys his age, and would have been the smallest in their group if it wasn't for Matt's little brother TK, who actually grew to be taller than Izzy very quickly. TK had been one of the lucky ones. For people like Izzy, the whole growth spurt business seemed to want to wait for the last possible moment to make an appearance, and he had been relieved when it finally happened. Now he stood at five feet eleven, the same as Mimi in her heels, and was handsome in a young kind of way, though Mimi and Sora had preferred the phrase 'boyishly cute'.

After everyone had become reacquainted with each other, Mimi linked her arm with Izzy's, grabbed Sora's hand, and gestured for Matt to follow. She had plans for tonight, plans that involved getting very drunk and dancing with some of her favourite people, that was, when the rest of them arrived. She was determined for this to be her fresh start, and with every second that passed, her previous feelings of doom and gloom faded and were replaced with optimism. She was going to enjoy herself even if it killed her.


	3. Chapter 3 - Hangovers

**CHAPTER THREE - HANGOVER**

'Am I dead?'

'I don't think so.'

'Are you sure?'

'If you're dead then so am I, please stop shouting.'

'I'm not shouting,' Mimi whispered, though Kari was right. It felt like every sound was being amplified to the max. She slowly lifted her head from the kitchen table and through her bleary eyes she saw her friend Kari attempting to keep down the breakfast she was eating, big dark sunglasses covering her delicate features. They had stayed at TK and Kari's place after they had all finally got together, continuing the party into the early hours before finally dropping like flies at around 5am. This morning, the apartment was quiet, partly because everyone was too afraid to talk in case the sound made their ears bleed and their heads explode, and partly because none of them had the energy to make conversation.

Sora had given up and gone back to sleep in the spare room, and with the exception of Mimi and Kari, everyone else was still in the places they had passed out in. Izzy was snoring in a chair with his coat over him, TK was lying half on, half off the couch with a lampshade over his head, Matt, after suddenly feeling very tired while having a cigarette in the cold night air, was still asleep on the floor of the balcony with some very rude pictures drawn on his face and arms in black pen, the fine artistic works of Kari, Mimi and Sora, and Joe had abandoned his 'no drinking' rule the second he walked into his friends' apartment and after drinking more than anyone else in the group, passed out while leaning over the toilet. In everyone's eyes, despite the raging hangovers, it had been a successful and eventful reunion. For Mimi, the only thing that could have made the night any better was if they were _all _there. But of course, someone had been missing, someone important. The person who had led their group into all sorts of situations when they were younger, got them into trouble, but also saved their lives, given them courage when all they wanted to do was give up. But he had been taking care of his sick mother the night before, and that couldn't be helped. Besides, he had passed over the responsibility to his sister Kari today, so that he and Mimi could spend some time catching up. Mimi was not enthusiastic about leaving the house looking like death, and although she was looking forward to seeing him again, she struggled to find the motivation to get ready.

Mimi dragged herself up and trudged over to Kari, flopping her head onto her shoulder, which proved to be both awkward and ultimately painful, since Kari was a petite girl, and Mimi had completely misjudged the distance between her own head and her friend's shoulder. She stood up straight, rubbing her neck and groaned.

'Urgh… your brother's gonna think I always look this rough,'

'Actually, I happen to think you're not looking too bad for someone with a splitting headache,' said a voice coming from the doorway. 'Hungover much?'

_Oh god, NOW? _Mimi cursed herself silently and covered her face with her hands. Slowly she gathered up the tiny amount of composure she had this morning, walked over to the man half smirking, half laughing at her, and put her arms around him, being careful not to make any sudden movements so that she could avoid throwing up on him.

'Hey Tai.'

'Hello Charlie Sheen,' he replied, pulling away and laughing.

'Not funny, I feel awful,' said Mimi, 'I thought you'd be later than this.'

'Later? It's two thirty in the afternoon!'

'It is?'

Mimi didn't attempt to hide the look of confusion on her face as Kari look at her watch.

'Shit, it is!' she shrieked, something she immediately regretted as both she and Mimi squeezed their eyes shut and winced. 'I gotta go. Tai, has mom had her medication yet?'

'Yup, all sorted. You just need to keep an eye on her.'

'Thanks bro.' Kari picked up her bag and keys and shuffled out of the front door, not bothering to change out of the baggy old tracksuit she'd thrown on when she got up earlier. 'Oh, and Mimi? You should probably start waking the others. Thanks for last night, it was the most fun I've had in ages.' She smiled through her headache and shut the door, leaving Tai and Mimi to themselves.

'You go get changed, I'll wake the others,' Tai offered. 'Where are they?'

'Scattered all over the house,' she replied with a quiet giggle, and she made her way to the bedroom to put on the dress Kari had laid out for her to borrow.

Fifteen minutes later, Mimi had made herself look half decent, presentable anyway, and left the bedroom, stretching out her dress as she went. It was pink, and while it was almost knee length on Kari, it only just covered Mimi's modesty, and she was highly conscious of it. Walking into the kitchen she was confronted with a group of very hungover, very grumpy Digidestined sitting round the table holding their heads. Mimi smiled.

'What're you so upbeat about?' grumbled Izzy, running his fingers though his extremely bedraggled hair.

'Just thinking,' she replied. 'When we were all chucked into another world as kids, who'd have guessed that we'd be here now, like this?' The thought made her chuckle. They were an odd group of friends, always had been. But Mimi looked around at the first Chosen Children – who were far from children these days – and felt an emotion wash over her. Nostalgia? Affection? She wasn't quite sure. But whatever it was, she loved it. And she loved them. Like absolutely no time had passed at all.


	4. Chapter 4 - Sex & Exes

**CHAPTER FOUR – SEX & EXES**

'Jeez, I've not been to this place in years,' sighed Mimi, sitting down outside a café, taking a sip of the latte Tai had bought for her.

'Nearly eleven years ago,' agreed Tai, sitting opposite her. 'It was the morning after your eighteenth birthday, we'd had a lot to drink the night before and were all in the state you're in now,' he laughed.

'God, we were naughty,' giggled Mimi.

'No, _you_ were naughty,' said Tai, smirking and raising an eyebrow as Mimi recalled the memory.

_Her parents had been on vacation at the time, having had celebrated her birthday a week early so as to not miss her celebrations, but were completely oblivious to the party Mimi had thrown. It really was the ultimate eighteenth, all the guests raved about it for ages afterwards, hailing it 'the party of the year'. Sora had helped her plan everything, and Mimi was glad of it. About an hour before the party started, downstairs had been pretty much cleared out, so as to make lots of room for guests, but also to avoid any possibility of some lightweight being horrendously sick on anything. Around seventy people showed up, people from school, friends of friends, and a few people she'd never met before, but she hadn't minded because many of them spent the evening in the large garden, and the night ran smoothly, with no fights or cases of alcohol poisoning (surprisingly, considering the amount of alcohol everyone had bought). Mimi and Sora were extremely drunk, like many others, and were dancing with anything that moved. Eventually Mimi had needed to go to the bathroom. As she stumbled through the door, she had fallen over none other than Matt, who had been sitting behind the door with something naughty between his finger and thumb. Mimi, feeling braver than usual thanks to the large amount of alcohol in her system, had gently taken the joint from him and bought it to her lips, inhaling deeply, and coughed. Matt, laughing at her, had told her to try again, that 'it gets better after the first few'. So she had. As she began to feel more relaxed, she had started to feel sentimental, and after a long, deep conversation with Matt about friendship, love and life, etcetera, she began to lose her sense of boundaries. Before she really knew what she was doing, she had pressed her lips on Matt's and kissed him deeply. She hadn't known why, she had just wanted to. The urge was just there. Before they knew it, they were having sex on the side of the bathtub. High and drunk, Mimi and Matt had forgotten self-control and given in to lust, not stopping to think of the potential awkward encounters that were to follow for several weeks afterwards._

'I guess I was,' she replied, hanging her head as she felt her face burn.

'Hey, don't be embarrassed, it's human nature,' joked Tai. 'Two good looking people, weed, drink, and some time alone? I'd be more surprised if you hadn't fucked,' he laughed. Mimi felt her cheeks redden even more.

'Yeah well,' she said, struggling to find anything appropriate to say.

'You two are good now, that's the main thing,' said Tai, suddenly serious. 'It was mega awkward hanging around you two knowing… yeah. But seriously, I'm glad it didn't mess anything up, you know?'

Mimi smiled. 'I know,' she said. 'Me too.'

Suddenly Tai turned quickly to face Mimi and put his hand to his head, covering his face.

'What's wrong?' asked Mimi.

'Don't look just yet, but see the girl over there with the blue hair?'

Mimi waited a few seconds so as not to seem obvious, and then took a quick, subtle glance at the girl in question. She was of average height, probably an inch or two shorter than Mimi, with dark blue hair covered with a grey beanie. She was quite pretty, Mimi noted, but she looked sad.

'Yeah, what about her?' she asked.

'Miya. Ex-girlfriend.' He mumbled.

She raised her eyebrows at him. 'Ex?'

'Yeah. Long story short, we were together for six months. About three weeks ago I went to see her after work and caught her fucking her sister's boyfriend.'

'Oh my God, that's awful!' exclaimed Mimi, bringing her hand to her mouth. 'I'm really sorry.'

'Don't be,' Tai said in a low voice. 'I'm well shot of her.'

'Then why are you hiding?' whispered Mimi, smirking.

'She's a fucking psycho,' hissed Tai. 'She's been calling and texting non-stop since I dumped her cheating ass. She turns up at my office randomly; I've had to tell security to keep her away from the building. She freaks me the fuck out.'

'Shit.' Mimi looked at him, lost for words. 'Come on, let's get out of here.' She took his arm, and grateful for the opportunity of escape, he steered them around a corner and out of Miya's sight. He leaned against a wall, relief on his face, and laughed.

'The messes I get myself into, eh?' he smiled. Mimi smiled back at him, feeling a flash of pity for her friend. Behind his relieved smile, he was seriously weirded out by this girl, and she desperately wanted to know what was going through her head, and why she thought it was ok to treat another human being the way she was treating Tai. She had never spoken to her before in her life, and she never wanted to. She didn't know the first thing about her and yet Mimi detested Miya already.

Tai continued. 'Do you fancy going for a walk?'

Mimi considered the idea for a moment, then looking at her watch, shook her head. _5.30pm. Time flies when you don't get up til afternoon._ 'Maybe another time. How about we head back to my place? We can watch a movie and order pizza or something.'

'Sounds good to me,' Tai replied, linking one arm with hers and using the other to pull out his phone to text Kari.

_Going 2 Mimi's for an hour or 2 so won't be back 2 check on mom tonight. Make sure dad's back before you leave. Sorry 4 dumping her on u sis, I'll make it up 2 u, promise. Tai x_

Less than two minutes later, Tai's phone pinged with a reply.

_Omg! For all u knew I could have had plans u ass! Luckily 4 u, I don't. Mom's ok & dad's finishing work early so I can head home soon anyway. C u whenever. PS. Use protection! I'm not ready to be an aunt! Love ya, K x_

Tai smiled. His sister loved to wind him up. They shared a unique bond, and were very close. Kari put that down to all the time they spent together in the Digital World and the fact that they had to work together to take care of their mother, but Tai knew the real reason. Kari as a child had been very sick. Her immune system had been terrible, and she was in and out of the hospital like it was her second home. Growing up, Tai had constantly worried about her, and whenever she looked a little tired or pale, he would panic and make a fuss of her. The truth was, Tai loved his baby sister more than anything in the world, and to lose her would be his worst nightmare. The thought plagued him throughout most of his life and caused him to be become overly protective of her, prioritising her safety and wellbeing over anything else. They very rarely bickered, and Matt and TK secretly envied the fact that they worked together so well, as did anyone with siblings. Everyone knew it was true; Tai and Kari Kamiya made the perfect team.

As Tai and Mimi walked down an alleyway, Mimi had the uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched. She looked around nervously, then looked at Tai.

'What's the matter?' he asked, concerned.

'Nothing. Alleyways just freak me out,' she replied.

'N'aww poor Princess Mimi,' he mocked. 'Don't worry sweetheart, Tai will protect you.' He smirked at her, and draped his arm over her shoulders. _Bad move._

'Well. Isn't this cosy?' A voice hissed. Tai squinted and noticed a shadowy figure a few feet in front of them.

'Wait here,' he instructed, and Mimi nodded.

'No need,' said the voice. 'I'll come to you.'

Mimi shivered and held onto Tai's arm. The sun was setting and it was getting darker, causing the tiniest things to cast huge looming shadows and making everything look cold and creepy. As the figure approached them, Mimi recognised it. She looked at Tai and knew that he had, too.

'Didn't take you long to forget about me, then,' Miya remarked. She came into clear view and Mimi took a good look at her. Her face was expressionless, and her voice was somewhat calm.

'Firstly, if I recall correctly, _you_ forgot about _me_ before we even split up.' He looked at Mimi. 'Secondly, Mimi's an old friend. Forgive me, I know that word might be difficult for you to understand, what with you being a cold bitch and all.' He narrowed his eyes at Miya, and Mimi gasped.

_Wow, she must have really pissed him off, _she thought to herself.

Tai stared at the girl in front of him, not breaking eye contact, immediately wondering if he would regret insulting her. She didn't seem mentally stable, and he wasn't sure what she was capable of. He just knew that her cheating and her stalker tendencies had got to him, and he wasn't going to stand there and allow some obsessed, immature girl attempt to intimidate him and Mimi.

'I suppose I deserved that.' Her words shocked Tai. Never had Miya accepted responsibility for anything she had done. She would always blame everyone around her whenever things didn't go her way, and she had always believed that she should be spoken to with respect at all times, even when she was being downright rude. Tai stared at her, confused. _What was she up to?_

Miya looked Mimi up and down, and Mimi placed her hands on her hips, defensiveness coursing through her body. She was just about to tell Miya to keep her dirty looks to herself, and that she should wind her scrawny neck in, when she interrupted.

'I suppose I'll see you around,' she said casually, turning to leave. 'Oh, and er…' She looked back over her shoulder at Tai. 'You can do so much better than that.' She glanced at Mimi. _Oh hell no._

'Excuse me, bitch-' Mimi stepped forward, and Tai put his arm in front of her, cutting her off mid-sentence. Miya snickered and continued to fade from sight.

'Don't. Ignore her, she's pathetic.'

Mimi groaned. 'Urgh, who does she think she is? Little bitch trying to make _me_ feel shit! _Me!_ She doesn't even fucking know me!'

'I know Meems, but she's clearly fucked up, don't give her the satisfaction of knowing you've even acknowledged her.'

Mimi huffed. 'Fine. But you're buying pizza.'

Tai smiled at her. 'Sure thing, princess.'

As they began to walk back to Mimi's, they both felt a sense of uncertainty, like there was something more to Miya than what they'd just seen in the alleyway. They were both aware that the nervous atmosphere was lingering between them, but they chose to ignore it. Instead, they changed the subject, chatting about anything and everything, attempting to brush off the strange, unnerving encounter with Tai's weird ex-girlfriend.


	5. Chapter 5 - Painful Memories

**CHAPTER FIVE – PAINFUL MEMORIES**

About a week had passed since Mimi's first encounter with Tai's ex, and although she couldn't put her finger on it, there was something about her that caused Mimi to think a lot about it. That night, she and Tai had gone back to her house, ordered pizza, and watched a shitty movie. They hadn't discussed Miya at all, but when Tai left, at about eleven thirty, Mimi had climbed into bed and lay awake for most of the night, wondering what on earth possessed Tai to go with the freak in the first place.

The past week had flown by in a blur of phone calls to her father and brother, getting reacquainted with old friends and a lot of shopping. Shopping was Mimi's heaven. She had always been sensible with her money, and had acquired a large amount of savings over the years, thanks to her successful career in the modelling industry, but occasionally she felt that she should buy something pretty. She had worked for her money, after all, and she felt she deserved to treat herself every once in a while. This morning, as she lay in bed looking at the beautiful blue dress she had bought the day before hanging on her bedroom door, she toyed with the idea of staying in bed all day. She decided that if anyone disturbed her today, it had better be for a damn good reason. Just as she was about to roll over and go back to sleep, her phone pinged.

_Got the day off work. Wanna hang out? Tai x_

Mimi sat up. _Good enough,_ she thought. She smiled. She had always enjoyed spending time with Tai, even as kids, he had the best sense of humour, and although sometimes he had a tendency to be a little insensitive, he always managed to make her feel better when she was feeling rubbish. She had liked hanging out with the others as well, but Tai was her go-to person when she needed some laughter therapy. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and tapped out a reply.

_The lengths u'll go to just 2 c me ;) Yeah sure, what time? X_

She lay back down and thought about what they could do. Staying in sounded boring, and she couldn't think of anything she liked to do that Tai also liked doing, either. So she was grateful when she opened Tai's new message.

_What can I say, can't keep away ;) I'll be at urs in about 15 mins. Wanna go for that walk? X_

She replied.

_Sure. C u in a few x_

A smile crept onto Mimi's face. Before she got here, she had been worrying that moving back would be a mistake. Lying here now, she realised that she couldn't have been more wrong. She loved it here, it was home. Where her friends were, her memories. She had been worried that she would feel lonely, and yet here she was, in contact with all of her old friends, and waiting for Tai to come and rescue her from boredom in precisely… fifteen minutes! _Shit!_ Mimi jumped up and threw open her closet doors to find something suitable to wear. She quickly decided on a baggy light pink sweater with pale blue skinny jeans, and white Converse. She sat down at her vanity table and eyed her impressive box of makeup, then her reflection. Her skin was blemish free, and aside from the hint of tiredness around her eyes, she looked fine. She didn't care anyway. Tai had seen her without makeup numerous times, and he never even seemed to notice much. Mimi sighed, and an image of her ex-boyfriend came into her head. His name was Michael, and he had been a family friend. He was blessed in the looks department, to say the least. But the same could not have been said for his personality. It hadn't taken long for Michael to start affecting Mimi's self-esteem. He would make small, catty comments about her appearance. When she showed him photos from her latest shoot, he would tell her that she looked ridiculous with so much makeup on, and that parading herself around for men to ogle made her cheap, and when Mimi insisted that she didn't just do glamour shoots, he would reply with a sarcastic, 'wow, really climbing the career ladder, aren't you Meems?' Despite his obvious disapproval of her wearing of cosmetics, he would also pick at her appearance when she was not made up. In the morning, for example, he would tell her to go and sort herself out because she wasn't 'presentable.' And whenever she put the rare couple of pounds on, he would tell her she was getting fat and letting herself go. Eventually, after two long years of emotional abuse and several medications to keep her mood balanced and her anxiety away, Mimi had decided that she had had enough of being made to feel like she never looked right for him, that she wasn't enough. She also wondered if he and his sly comments on her looks were the reason she had become somewhat disinterested in her career. So Michael came home one day to find that all of her things had been taken from his apartment, and a note to say she had gone back to live with her father. He had called her a few times, and then given up. He hadn't cared enough to make much of an effort to get her back, and it seemed to her that the attempts he _had_ made of getting in touch had been for only one reason: he didn't want to lose the pretty girl on his arm. She hadn't been important to him as a person. She had merely been a trophy, a prize he liked to show off at parties to friends and colleagues, something to make _him_ feel better about himself. Mimi had struggled to adapt to being single again, especially since Michael was present at a lot of family functions, as their fathers were close friends, and had spent a lot of time ranting on the phone to Matt, who constantly worried about the phone bill she was racking up making calls to Japan, but who also was happy to lend a shoulder to cry on (even if he was over six thousand miles away). He had hated hearing her distressed, and was glad when she told him that she had decided to forget about Michael, just like that, and try to enjoy her life. She often wondered why she could never find a guy like any of her male friends. Tai, Matt, Izzy, Joe and TK all had qualities she could easily fall in love with, like Tai's strength, Matt's charisma, Izzy's intelligence, Joe's reliability and TK's sweetness and general innocence (for the most part). Her friends were living proof that there were good men in the world, so why did she keep choosing the douchebags?

Sighing, she tried unsuccessfully to push the thoughts out of her head. Just by remembering his damn name, she had remembered the way he made her feel and had put herself in a bad mood. Grabbing a hair tie, she violently pulled her dark hair up into a messy ponytail and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she had finished, she leaned over the sink to spit out the toothpaste and nearly died of shock.

'That's so attractive.'

'OH MY GOD!' Mimi shouted, dropping her tooth brush and holding her hand to her chest before turning back to the sink.

Tai was leaning against the door frame, smirking at Mimi as she rinsed her mouth. When her face was toothpaste free, she turned and threw a towel at him.

'What the fuck? So much for knocking, just let yourself in, why don't you?'

'You're the one who left the door unlocked, fucktard! I could have been anyone!'

'I should be so lucky,' retorted Mimi, throwing him a cheeky smirk of her own and pushing past him.

'Oh, that's how it is, is it? I'll just go then.' Tai followed Mimi downstairs and she turned abruptly.

'No, don't,' she said, suddenly serious.

'I was joking, idiot,' he laughed. 'How could I not want to spend my day off with one of my best friends in the whole wide world?' he put his hand to his heart dramatically.

'You flatter me so, Mr Kamiya,' replied Mimi. She giggled as he nudged her towards the door. She picked up her bag, and after double checking that she had locked the door under Tai's watchful eye, she linked her arm with his and walked. She didn't know where they were going, but she didn't mind. In a moment that unnerved her slightly, she realised that he could have her walk to the edge of the earth and she wouldn't have a care in the world as long as he was there also. She brushed off the drama of that thought and remembered that she hadn't seen Tai for a long, long time, not to mention the fact that he had always been good at distracting her from her problems, and she was feeling sentimental for _all_ of her friends. _Yes, that's it,_ she thought._ It's been a long time. I've just missed him. THEM. I've missed them._

* * *

After walking for what seemed like hours, Mimi and Tai found themselves in a large park, deserted except for the odd couple or so, either walking their dogs or smooching on a bench. Mimi thought it was sweet, if a little OTT, but Tai seemed to have other ideas.

'Urgh, don't people have anything better to do?' he muttered, but a small smile gave him away.

'Well, don't _you_?' replied Mimi.

'Not today, no.'

'I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted, Mr Kamiya.'

'Take it as you wish Miss Tachikawa, but in all honesty, I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing right now.'

Mimi blushed and smiled. Tai was a charmer, not as intense as Matt, but close all the same, and he always saved his most charming lines for his closest friends. Sora and Mimi had grown accustomed to Tai's shameless flirting, but both had always secretly taken some twisted gratification from the fact that it was only for them. Tai came to an abrupt halt under a tree close to the stream, and gestured for Mimi to sit with him. She didn't hesitate.

'So how's life?' Tai asked, a little too casually.

'Oh you know,' replied Mimi.

'No, I don't, that's why I'm asking,' Tai smirked. His face softened and he turned to Mimi. 'In all seriousness though, Meems, are you ok?'

'Of course. Why'd you ask?'

'You seem a little down today.'

'Hmm.' Mimi had always had a hard time hiding her emotions from Tai, and even now she was struggling to hold it together.

'Mimi.'

'I dunno, I was just thinking about stuff earlier. Stuff I don't really want to remember, you know?'

'Like what?'

'God, you just don't give up, do you?' she smiled at her friend. 'If you must know, I was thinking about an ex-boyfriend.'

The concern seemed to fade from Tai's face and was replaced by another expression. _What was that? _Mimi couldn't tell, but it made her shift uncomfortably.

'Ahh. I don't think I'd be any help in that department,' Tai said. 'Can't say I've ever kept any feelings once I've broken up with someone.'

'Oh no, no. No feelings. I just had a hard time with him, that's all. It's just that it affected my feelings about being with anyone. He made me feel so shit, and I don't ever want to go down that road again. It's just been bothering me.'

Tai's features softened once more. He felt awful for her. How could anyone make Mimi Tachikawa feel bad about herself? She was beautiful, intelligent, sweet and funny. He just didn't get it. And he _hated_ the fact that some douchebag had made her feel that way, and that the asshole had made her distrustful of relationships. Tai wondered if he knew this guy. After all, Mimi had stayed in touch as much as she could, and as far as they knew, all of her friends were up to date on anyone she had been seeing. _Which one was it?_ He found himself wishing that there was something he could do to turn back time and make sure none of it ever happened, or at least to make it all better.

'I'm sorry Meems. He sounds like a douche.'

'He is.' Mimi let out a quiet laugh, which was interrupted by a sob. _Shit, don't cry Mimi, you're embarrassing yourself!_ She thought to herself. She was grateful that the sob seemed to be a one-off, and no tears followed. 'It's just, not to sound big headed, but I know I'm not ugly, I wouldn't have been in the modelling industry for so long if I was, and I happen to think I scrub up quite well when I make a decent effort. But I don't feel like I'm enough for anyone. Like, I know I attract attention, but maybe it's the wrong sort, you know? Why can't anyone look at me like I'm beautiful, rather than a piece of ass?'

'You _are_ beautiful.' The words came out of Tai's mouth before he'd even realised. _Too late now, Kamiya. Might as well carry on. _'You're the most beautiful girl I know, and if he couldn't see that, then he's the one with the problem, not you. Do you not think you're worthy or something? 'Cause I swear, Mimi, any sane man would give his everything for a woman like you, I just wish you could see it.'

Mimi stared at him, mouth slightly open as if she was in shock.

'I'm sorry,' Tai continued. 'That was a bit out of line.'

'You think I'm beautiful?' Mimi whispered.

'More than you know,' replied Tai, hoping and praying that his friend wasn't going to go bat shit crazy and accuse him of coming on to her while she was vulnerable. He wasn't trying to chat her up. It was the truth, she was the most attractive girl Tai had ever laid eyes on, and it was a complete mystery to him why she would have a low opinion of her worth. She wasn't just pretty, she was incredible, and it made him angry that anyone could make her feel like she was anything less. Mimi didn't get angry. She didn't accuse him of taking advantage of her. She did something that made Tai feel like he could burst into tears. She put her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

'I'm sorry, Tai,' she muttered. 'I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I'm just having a shitty day.'

'Don't be sorry Meems,' he replied, placing a hand on her back and letting the other stroke her hair softly. 'Have you felt like this for long?' Tai suddenly worried that she had felt this way the entire time she'd been here, and he hadn't noticed.

'It comes and goes,' she admitted, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. She silently thanked her lucky stars that she hadn't worn makeup. 'Sometimes I'm ok, like, some things can distract me and take my mind off it, then other times I just don't want to see anyone, not even my friends, because I worry that I'm not good enough for them.'

'You are plenty good enough,' Tai said softly, pulling away and looking at her tear-stained face. Even now, he noticed, with red eyes and blotchy cheeks, she was still the prettiest thing he'd ever seen, and he wanted more than anything to take it all away for her.

'Thank you, Tai,' Mimi sniffled. She resumed her old sitting position next to him and put her head on his shoulder. 'I don't know what I'd do without you.'

Tai relaxed and placed an arm around her shoulders but couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved about the emotions he was experiencing right now. He didn't know what they were. Pity, maybe? A shared sadness? Or… a crush? _Oh God, that's what it is,_ thought Tai, suddenly shocked and a little irritated with himself. _I'm almost twenty nine years old… and I have a schoolboy crush… on my childhood friend._

**N'awww I love Tai, he's a cutie :) And poor Mimi, she's got a lot of trauma coming up, and Tai and Kari going to be having a few personal problems of their own. So far I've written about ten chapters of this story, and there's still a lot of storyline-shaping to do yet, so I've got a feeling this is going to be a longgg fic. Sorry that I tend to ramble, but I do like to do a lot of scene-setting before I really get into storylines. One storyline will involve Mimi and Tai (obviously) and another will involve a member of Tai and Kari's family. Will probably write a bit of Takari, and maybe I'll find Matt a nice girl. Not so keen on the idea of Sora as Sorato seems to be an obvious couple in fics since it's canon, so if anyone has any suggestions of a new, original character with a simple-ish background, please let me know and if I use her I'll be sure to give you credit. Thank you for your reviews so far :)  
**


	6. Chapter 6 - Butterflies

**CHAPTER SIX - Butterflies**

'What's wrong, Tai?'

'Nothing, I'm fine.'

'You don't look fine.'

'I said it's nothing, just get off my back!' Tai snapped at Izzy, causing him to shift backwards, as if to move away from the aggressive brunette's blatant bad mood.

Izzy left Tai's office, assuming that Tai was just cranky to be back at work after his two days off. That assumption, though, couldn't have been further from the truth. The reality of it was that he was developing feelings for a woman he'd known since he was a child. Tai didn't do feelings. He didn't really do relationships either, and the last one he'd made an exception for seemed to prove to him that they weren't worth the hassle. He had been coming round to the idea of having a relationship with Miya, mainly because he was curious since he'd never had a real one, but all she had done was show Tai that he was wrong to even want to start believing in the whole love crap in the first place. It actually turned out to be a good job that he never fell for her because he couldn't even imagine how he would have felt if she had been his first love, and then betrayed him in the way she had. In his eyes, he'd had a lucky escape. For most of his life, since his mid-teens, he had used women mostly for sex, much like his best friend Matt, and had never stayed with the same person for long enough to have any _real_ feelings for them. It was easier that way. The only women he cared about were Kari, their mother and his closest friends, Mimi and Sora. They all knew how he was. They would nag him to find someone nice, because in Kari's own words: 'You'll never be truly happy until you find someone worth sharing your life with'. _Pfft. What would Kari know?_ She'd never had a one night stand in her life and she'd always been a sucker for romance. She and TK had been together since high school, and even back then, she'd known that he was _the one. One nighters will always be enough, _Tai had always thought. Since Mimi had arrived back in Japan, though, he had been having a hard time convincing himself of this.

He didn't know how to deal with how he was feeling there and then, and it scared him. He'd only realised the other day while they had been for a walk that his feelings for her had been growing and growing, and he'd spent the next day in bed, avoiding the phone and staring at the ceiling, wondering what the fuck was happening to him. He couldn't tell anyone. Matt would call him soft, Sora would tell Mimi herself, TK was too loved up with Tai's sister to care much, and Joe and Izzy didn't have a clue when it came to girls anyway. _Christ,_ he thought to himself. _Could my life get any worse?_ A knock at the door jolted him out of his thoughts, and Tai's assistant entered his office.

'There's a woman down in reception, Mr Kamiya. She wants to see you.'

'Who is it?'

The pretty blonde looked at the name on the piece of paper she was holding and then back to Tai.

'A Miss Tachikawa, sir.'

_My life just got worse._

Sighing, Tai attempted his most casual voice.

'Oh, yeah, send her up.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Thank you, Suzie.' He watched as she left his office, eyes focussed on her rather pert behind, which was secretly the main reason he had hired her, but now it did nothing for him. He found himself thinking that Mimi had a stunning figure, much better than Suzie's, then mentally slapped himself and straightened his posture, silently begging himself to not give anything away. A quiet knock on the door made him jump, and he sat staring at it for a few seconds, as if it would magically open by itself, his words stuck in his throat. He coughed.

'Come in… hey.'

'Hey.'

Mimi stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. She stood for a moment, staring at the mess of papers on Tai's desk, then shook her head and looked at him.

'Do you have a minute?'

Tai desperately wanted to say that no, he didn't, that he was very busy. He wanted to avoid the whole situation, but then she would become suspicious. And the idea of more time alone with her was so much more tempting.

'Sure. What's up?'

Mimi sat in the chair opposite him and let a small smile grace her lips.

'I called you yesterday, where were you?' she asked quietly.

'Oh, I er, had a ton of paperwork to get through, didn't get a moment to myself all day,' he lied, not wanting her to know that he had actually been feeling sorry for himself in bed, and that it was her fault.

'Oh.' Mimi dipped her head, looking at her hands. 'I didn't freak you out the other day did I? I'm not always that much of a cry-baby, I swear.'

For some reason, this made Tai laugh. That she thought he hadn't answered her call because she'd been a little upset the day before was, in Tai's eyes, ridiculous.

'Mimi, we've been friends since forever. Since when have I ever judged you for having a shitty day?'

'True. I just didn't want you to think I'm an emotional wreck. Or a headcase or something.'

The word made Tai wince. He didn't like that word. It was a word that the Kamiya family had deemed 'forbidden'.

'I'm sorry Meems, I wasn't avoiding you. And I would never think that of you, you're entitled to feel sad over some bad memories, it happens to the best of us.'

Mimi shrugged. 'Well, ok. Thank you for making me feel better anyway, I'm glad I can count on you.'

She stood up and moved over to Tai, who had moved closer to her while they had been talking and was standing next to his desk, leaning back against it with his arms folded over his chest. Mimi liked his arms. They made her feel safe when they were around her, like her problems couldn't reach her. Arms were always something she had been drawn to when looking at men, and Tai's were the feature she had always found attractive. He was tall – about six feet one - and slim, yet slightly muscular, but not too much. He had a big mess of dark hair, and big brown eyes. Mimi had found herself lost in those eyes once or twice over the last few weeks, but had been careful not to seem obvious. She stood before him, and wanting to feel those arms around her again, wrapped her own around his neck and pulled him into a hug. He reciprocated, snaking his arms around her waist, silently cursing her for driving him insane. He fought the overpowering urge to kiss her, instead focussing on the rejection he imagined he would experience if she discovered how he felt. Little did he know that Mimi herself was fighting the same urge. She felt as if she could stay in that position for the rest of her life, just here, protected by someone who cared about her, someone she cared about _more._

Feeling self-control slowly leave his body, Tai pulled away from Mimi and saw her to the door. She stopped just as she was about to leave and looked over her shoulder.

'Do you wanna hang out tomorrow?'

'Sure. I'll erm, I'll text you when I've finished work,' he said, butterflies almost making him keel over. The feeling he had, that weird sensation that would appear in his stomach when he saw her confused him. He didn't _want_ to have feelings for Mimi, it only made things difficult. But he did, and whenever he saw her, or whenever someone mentioned her name or even when he just thought about her, those butterflies would return, making him feel physically sick, and scaring the life out of him. He wanted those feelings to go away, but they wouldn't, and though he often tried to convince himself that it would be better if he wasn't around her, the idea of her not being a part of his life made his heart hurt. And the thought that she wouldn't feel the same way hurt even more.

**Haha ohhhh Tai's got it _baaad_! Thank you for reading, even though it was a pretty short boring chapter, hope you liked it :) The following chapters are  
more eventful, promise! I'll upload chapter 7 over the next couple of days.  
**


	7. Chapter 7 - Fear & Jealousy

**CHAPTER SEVEN – Fear and Jealousy**

Tai stood in the dark hallway of his parents' apartment, listening to Kari's voice coming from his mother and father's bedroom.

'Please take them, Mom, they'll make you better,' Kari pleaded.

'NO! You don't think I know what you're doing? You don't think I know that you, your brother and your godforsaken father are trying to poison me?' their mother spat.

Tai cringed, and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water, unable to listen to Kari's pleas and sobs. A funny noise escaped his throat as he raised shakily raised his glass to his lips and took a drink. He choked as he heard the unmistakable sound of glass smashing on a hard surface and a loud thud, and turned to look down the hallway, listening for Kari to give him a sign that she was ok. _Silence._ Nerves threatening to make his legs give way, he started to move towards the bedroom when suddenly a figure appeared in the dim light coming from the open door. Squinting, Tai clenched his fists defensively.

'Kari?' _More silence._ 'Kari!'

As the figure approached Tai, he realised that it wasn't his little sister, but in fact his mother. She walked past him as if he wasn't there, and Tai turned as he noticed a dark patch on the sleeve of her dressing gown.

'Mom? What's going on? Are you ok? Where's Kar?'

She stood still, her back to Tai, not moving to answer his question.

'Where she should be. And where _you_ should be.' Her voice was cold, emotionless.

The blood drained from Tai's face as he realised that something wasn't right. He walked to the bedroom and peered round the door. Clasping a hand to his mouth, his eyes landed on Kari. She was bleeding. Everywhere. She lay on the blood soaked carpet, motionless, and her eyes were half open, half closed. Tai dropped to his knees beside her and shook her.

'Kari? Answer me, Kar, please! Please Kari, don't leave me, please no, no, no…' His voice trailed off as sobs escaped his throat and hot tears coursed down his face. Turning his head slightly, saw his mother, who had reappeared in the doorway. A glint of light caught his eye as he looked at the knife she was holding. He stared at her through his tears and jumped back, almost landing on his dying sister as his mother lunged, blade pointed at his chest.

'NO!' Tai woke with a start, dripping with sweat and shaking uncontrollably. He was breathing heavily and his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He steadied himself, slowing his breathing and reassuring himself that it wasn't real. _It was just a bad dream._ _It was just a bad dream. It was just a bad dr…_ Tai looked at his phone. _7 missed calls – Mimi_. Still shaking, he ignored it and scrolled through his contact list. Kal, Karen,_ Kari._ He tapped her name and the call button, holding the phone to his ear, resisting the urge to throw up.

'Tai?'

'Kari.' Tai let out the breath he had been holding the whole time he was listening to the dialling tone.

'Tai? What's wrong? Are you ok?'

Tai smiled at the concern in his sister's voice.

'I'm ok, sis, just checking up on you.'

'At five in the morning? Shit Tai, your overprotectiveness is getting _too_ much,' she joked. 'Go back to bed and let me sleep or I'll be at yours in ten minutes with a pillow ready to smother you.'

'I'm sorry. Night.'

'Night bro.'

'Oh, Kari?'

'Yeah?'

'I love you.'

'I love you too, douchebag.'

Tai hung up, lying back onto his pillow and, still attempting to control his breathing, closed his eyes, partially bracing himself for another one of the dreams that had plagued him ever since his mother became ill.

* * *

'Tai, where the hell are you?' Izzy's voice came through the speaker in Tai's phone as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and running his hand through his wild hair.

'What?'

'It's ten thirty, idiot. You're supposed to be at work. I'm going crazy here, I don't know how you cope with so much paperwork!' Izzy was panicking, and Tai found it amusing.

'Usually it all goes in a junk drawer,' he chuckled. 'Or through the shred… _ten thirty?_ Fuck!' he jumped out of bed and dressed himself as quickly as he could, brushed his teeth with lightning speed, dragged his fingers through his wild hair and fled his apartment, snatching his car keys off the kitchen counter as he went.

Halfway to the offices, Tai's phone started ringing. _Izzy. _He answered, making sure to use the hands-free kit Kari had bought him out of paranoia for his safety, and groaned loudly.

'I'm coming now, I'm nearly there, keep your pants on!'

'Tai.' Izzy sounded solemn.

'What is it?'

'Did Mimi call you last night?'

'Err, maybe, I can't remember, I think I had a couple of missed calls from her.' Tai frowned, wondering what Izzy was getting at. 'Why?'

'Something's happened. Just put your foot down, but try not to kill yourself. That's the last thing she needs.' Izzy hung up.

Tai panicked, worry rising up in him so much so that he barely saw the car in front brake quickly and had to swerve to avoid it. Overtaking the useless driver, he put more and more pressure on the pedal, desperate to know what had happened to Mimi. _Was she hurt? Was she dead?_ Tai shook his head, and on pulling into his parking space, leapt out of the car and not bothering to wait for the elevator, took the stairs two or three at a time, dragging his blazer behind him. Reaching his office, he swung open the door to see Mimi sitting near his desk, head bowed. Izzy stood beside her and Matt sat in front of her, a supportive hand on her arm.

Tai steadied himself as he caught his breath and gasped. 'What's going on?'

Mimi lifted her head. She had been crying again, Tai noticed, but there was something else. Fear. It was written all over her face, and when her eyes met with his, her expression cut him deep. He walked over and kneeled in front her, holding her clasped hands in his. When she dipped her head again, he lifted her chin with his finger and silently begged her to tell him what had happened. It was Matt who spoke first.

'She has nowhere to go.'

'What? Why?' Tai frowned. _Why was everyone being so fucking vague?_

Mimi sniffed and spoke quietly.

'My house is crawling with police.' She coughed and hiccupped, and Matt returned his hand to her arm. Deciding that she was in no fit state to talk about it, he explained the situation to Tai.

When Sora had finished work, Mimi had called round to see her, and ended up staying til quite late. At about one in the morning, she had pulled up outside her house and approached the door, only to find it open, and the window near the top of the door smashed. Nervous, she had stepped inside and almost fainted at the sight that greeted her. Dark red paint was splashed up the walls and on the huge picture of Mimi and her brother that hung in the hallway. 'Slut' was sprayed onto doors, and several windows were smashed. She had stood in shock for a few moments before getting out her phone. She contemplated calling the police, but there was someone else she needed to call first. She needed to see someone she knew, a familiar face so that she could relish in the tiny bit of security she had left while police scoured her home. Shaking and crying, she dialled said person's number and listened. _No answer._ She tried again. And again. After calling seven times, she had given up and called Matt. She was thankful that he answered quickly and promised to be there as soon as he could, and that he would call the police for her. Knowing that Matt was on his way made her feel a little braver, and so she decided on going upstairs to survey the damage. She picked up a vase for protection, not knowing if she was alone or not, and slowly made her way upstairs. Opening her vandalised bedroom door, she screamed in horror. It looked as though a bomb had exploded. Everything was ripped, torn, splashed with paint, but the thing that horrified Mimi the most was the photo pinned to her bedpost. She had seen it as soon as she had entered the room. A photograph of herself and Tai when they were about fifteen years old, at the beach. It was a photocopy, enlarged to at least three times its original size, and pinning it to the bedpost was a knife. In fifteen year old Mimi's neck. Fifteen year old Tai's face was smudged with something dark. Wiping her tears, she focussed on the stain. _Blood._ Not just the red paint that had been thrown all over the rest of the house. Actual, real blood. Whether it was human blood, she didn't know, but shock, confusion and utter terror flooded though her veins and she fell to the floor.

'When I woke up, I was in Matt's car and there were police everywhere,' sobbed Mimi. 'I stayed with him last night and came looking for you earlier.'

'Meems.' Tai wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, wanting to keep her there forever, wanting to keep her safe. Then he remembered. _She'd called him. And he hadn't answered._ He reasoned that he couldn't have heard his phone while he was asleep, and that there was nothing he could have done to stop it from happening, but the guilt still overwhelmed him. He held her as she cried silently, stroking her hair and feeling as though he could cry too, but his natural instinct to be strong had kicked in, and he sat wordlessly, wishing he could take it all away.

'There's something else,' Matt broke the silence.

'There's more?' Tai looked up at Matt.

'They've arrested Miya Tanaka.'

**Oh dear, poor Meems. And poor Tai! His nightmare does tie in with the story later on, and Kari has an important part in that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you for reading :)**


	8. Chapter 8 - Home Truths

**Bit of a filler chapter to be honest, sorry for the rambling. But be prepared for Mimi to reveal some home truths about her career and personal life! **

** shir .pinhas. 1 - Thank you so much for your reviews, hope you enjoy this chapter :)  
**

**CHAPTER EIGHT – Home Truths**

Tai sat on the side of his bed, running his fingers through his wild mop of dark hair, his mind racing over the events of the previous day. He hadn't slept; just lain awake for most of the night wondering if Mimi was suffering from the same bout of insomnia he was being plagued with. After some thought, he highly doubted it. _Considering what she's been through, she must be exhausted_, he thought. Bringing himself to his feet, he walked over to the window and wearily pulled open the curtains, letting the harsh morning sunlight flood into his bedroom. He winced and turned suddenly, half blinded by the piercing rays after spending the night staring at the pitch black ceiling, deep in thought. He dropped his hands to reveal a figure standing in the doorway. At first glance, he could have sworn it was Kari, not really noticing the height difference, and was about to launch into a lecture about letting herself into his apartment all the time when his eyes began to come into focus and his senses returned to him and he found that he was faced with none other than…

'Meems?' Tai rubbed his eyes and stared at her.

'Hmm.' To say she looked dreadful would have been an understatement. But she was up and dressed, evidently, though her hair was lank and straggly, pulled up onto her head in a scruffy ponytail, her skin a ghostly shade of white, and her eyes proving to Tai that his theory of her sleeping like a baby had been horribly wrong, the dull grey circles under her eyes giving the game away. But despite her dishevelled and frankly, _tragic_ appearance, Tai found himself looking at a woman who was holding herself together considerably well, but then, that's who she was. Who she had always been. Ever since they were kids she had been strong. Sweet and a little naive, but a fighter all the same. She had surprised the rest of the group when her quiet, girlish, shy but somewhat spoiled and bratty mask had slipped when they had first found themselves in danger to reveal a determined, clever child, fiercely loyal to her friends and skilled in the planning of battles, often helping Tai and the others put together successful plans of both attack and defence back in the Digital World. They all knew she was a fighter. But they also knew that under all of the bravery and occasional sass there was a frightened little girl, desperate to do right by the people around her.

Now, as Tai stood before Mimi Tachikawa, a grown woman of twenty eight, he wished he could hug that little girl until every last ounce of fear and uncertainty left her.

'You haven't slept,' he remarked cautiously.

'What was your first clue?' she laughed. But it sounded hollow, meaningless. He didn't answer, so she continued. 'Thank you for letting me stay here, Tai.'

'Stay as long as you need, Meems, it's no problem,' he replied. 'What are friends for?'

Mimi looked at him and smiled weakly in an attempt to hide the fact that his obvious use of the word 'friends' had made her feel as though she had been punched in the stomach, feeling taken aback by the intensity of her own feelings towards the man in front of her. She reminded herself that she was probably feeling vulnerable and slightly dependant on him, since he was the one she had first opened up to on that day in the park, and the one who had taken her in and made her feel a little safer when her home was turned into something straight out of a psycho movie. The memories of the day before were still fresh and painful, and she shivered at the thought of them.

* * *

Tai had instructed Izzy to take the rest of the day off, drive Mimi back to his apartment and to _stay_ with her until he got back. He and Matt then returned to her house, which was still cordoned off with police tape, and after having gained permission from the police themselves (which Tai had thought ridiculous), salvaged the things they could. They found a few undamaged items of clothing, pairs of shoes and a coat. Being careful not to move too much in case something was damaged, and paranoid that they would unknowingly tamper with evidence, they hauled what they could into a few boxes, picked up her pills (Tai recognised the brand on the label immediately) and hastily returned to their cars.

Upon arriving back at the apartment, the two men were confronted by a sweating Izzy, who was pacing the kitchen, a pained expression in his eyes and worry etched onto his face.

'Izzy? What is it, where's Mimi?' Matt dropped the box he was carrying and pushed his way past Izzy into the living room, where Mimi was sitting on an armchair, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her calves, and her face buried in her sweater.

'Mimi?' Matt sat on the arm of the chair and put his arm around her, hoping that she would feel better if she knew someone was _physically_ here for her, and silently begging that he wouldn't startle her or cause her to freak out. To his relief, she fell into his side, and held onto a fistful of shirt on his stomach. Pulling her closer to him, he kissed her head and sighed.

'You're ok, Mimi. Everything's going to be ok. Everything's going to be ok. Everything's going to be ok.' He repeated the words over and over again, rocking her slowly and occasionally hushing her sobs.

Back in the kitchen, Tai looked at Izzy in wonder. Izzy kept his gaze on the floor, sheepishly.

'Seriously?' Tai stared at him. Izzy suddenly looked him and jumped to his own defense.

'Hey! I didn't know what to do, I panicked, it happens!' he snapped.

'How, pray tell me, did you manage to get yourself this worked up over an upset female? You know, instead of practically having a panic attack, you could have given her a hug or talked to her about something, anything, because you might have ended up coming off a little less _neurotic_ than you are now.' Tai looked at his nervous friend and couldn't stop the smirk from forming on his face, knowing that Izzy's state had been caused by the fact that he literally had _no_ idea how to deal with human beings, let alone women.

'Whatever,' Izzy grunted. 'Just give me five minutes to pull myself together.'

Tai snorted and made his way to the living room. Upon spotting Matt with his arm around the pretty girl, he felt a pang of… _what was that? _Jealousy? Bitterness? Either way, it made him feel uncomfortable and he didn't like it. He dropped the box of Mimi's shoes on the table and put a hand on Matt's shoulder.

'You can get off home for a while if you want, pal,' he said. 'I've got this.' Tai said quietly, hoping that his hints weren't painfully obvious.

'I'll stick around I think,' replied Matt. _Damn._ 'But I'm going outside for a smoke, keep this one company for a while, will ya?' He gestured to Mimi. The girl in question lifted her head from his shirt and looked him in the eye. Her face was puffy, she looked tired and her cheeks were tear-stained and blotchy.

'I don't need looking after,' she snapped.

'The big girl act won't wash with us now, sweetheart,' said Matt, trying to prise her fist from his shirt as gently as he could. 'We're not letting you out of our sights until that sick bitch is found guilty and locked away, isn't that right, Tai?'

'Uhh… yeah, sure. Go and smoke Matt, we'll be alright, won't we Meems?'

'I'll be alright when you both stop being patronising,' she muttered, bringing back up her defences, suddenly a little embarrassed that she had let her guard down so horrifically, but secretly feeling grateful for the protection of both Tai and Matt, the two strongest men she knew.

'I heard that,' said Matt, finally managing to free himself from her death grip. He headed toward the doors leading onto the balcony, pulling out his cigarettes. 'And it's for your own good, princess.'

Mimi got to her feet and sighed, walked over to the mirror spanning the length of the wall opposite her and smiled to herself. Trust Tai. _He can probably just about see all of his hair at the same time in this,_ she thought. Staring at her reflection, she squinted.

'What are you doing?' asked Tai, smirking at her expression.

'If I kind of squint, I don't look so tragic,' she replied. Rubbing at her cheeks, she groaned. 'When did my life get so shit?'

'It's not so bad.' Tai knew it sounded ridiculous and braced himself for the barrage of abuse he was expecting.

'Not so bad? NOT SO BAD? My house got broken into and most of my belongings have been destroyed. I might as well burn the place to the ground, not to mention the fact that some twisted bitch is holding a grudge against me for NOTHING! I have nothing here now! I got none of this shit back in New York, I shouldn't have even come back to this hole!' She gasped, catching her breath and holding back the powerful sob in her throat. Tai flinched, her last comment stinging him.

'Then why did you?' he challenged.

'Because I missed my home,' she replied. 'Turns out I probably shouldn't have.' Tai felt himself stiffen and suddenly an unexpected feeling of anger rose inside him.

'If New York was so fucking perfect, why don't you just get the next flight out of this _hole_?' he spat, instantly feeling guilty when Mimi's hand flew to her mouth. 'Mimi, I didn't mean…'

'You just don't get it, do you?' she yelled. 'I hated it there! Yeah, I might not have been targeted by freaks, but I was surrounded by fake people, with no one to talk to, my friends were superficial and only out for themselves, my father worked twenty four fucking seven, and only when I began to think my life could be a lot worse, when I started to relax and enjoy what I could, my mother goes and dies on me and my boyfriend, the one person I had expected to console me, pushes me away and destroys my confidence, made me feel like I was jack shit to him! I lost interest in my career and I was isolated, I had no one, Tai, NO ONE and my life sucked so bad I wondered if it was even worth living, and it was Matt who made me see sense, he doesn't even know it, but if it wasn't for him listening to me rant on the phone every week I wouldn't have left that idiot and I'd probably still be there wishing that I was dead! Now do you understand why I wanted to come back? Do you?'

Tai stood and stared in shock at the beautiful tragedy standing in front of him gasping for breath. _And there it was. _All laid out for him. And for herself. For ages, she had sugar coated her life in an attempt to not feel depressed about it. Convincing herself that her life wasn't great, but she had things a lot of other people didn't. A busy social life, a well-paid career, and though she had all but lost faith in her looks thanks to her dirtbag ex-boyfriend, she couldn't have been too bad because they had got her this far, and she could be thankful for it. In reality, attending the social functions she had once lived for and the job she used to enjoy so much had ultimately become extremely stressful. And after her mama had died, she became so unbearably isolated that her father had all but forced her to see a shrink. She struggled to open up to him, already believing that no one cared about any of her problems, and that she had bought many of them upon herself anyway. So she kept quiet for the most part, only talking about the grief she felt at losing her beloved mama, and blocking out the mess her life had become, telling herself that there were people going through worse. It had been hard to believe, but the more she told herself that, the more she started to believe it. It was only now, while she was feeling vulnerable and had Tai pushing her buttons that she had allowed it to spew out like word vomit, and looking at Tai's wordless expression, she realised that she was just as shocked as he was. She hadn't even thought about it, pushed it to the back of her mind and yet there it was now, clear as day. She had been in denial this whole time. Her adult life really had sucked.

'Oh my God.'

Tai and Mimi jumped as they turned to face a startled Matt, standing with his mouth half open, staring at Mimi in astonishment.

'Matt, I didn't see you…' Mimi started. He held up his hand to stop her.

'Why didn't you say anything?' he asked. 'We talked on the phone every week, I knew you were stressing about things, but I had no idea you felt so low.'

'I…'

'Why couldn't you tell me? This whole time I was talking to a woman who didn't feel like she wanted to be alive anymore and I had NO idea! Oh god, I'm the worst friend in the world,' he put his hands on the back of his neck and shut his eyes.

'No, Matt… You were amazing. I didn't say anything because I suck at opening up, I didn't want you thinking I was weak, but knowing that you were there if I ever did crack was all I needed from you. And I knew I had you, but it was so difficult knowing that you were so far away. That was when I realised that you, _all_ of you were here, my real friends, and I was just desperate to come back, to try and startyet another new life without the loneliness. I had no idea something this shitty would happen to me here. I just can't seem to escape bad luck, it follows me everywhere.'

'Meems.' Tai walked over to Mimi and put his hand on her arm. She looked at him.

'I love you both, you know that? And I since I've been back in Japan I've thanked my lucky stars every day that I have you all, and that none of you are thousands of miles away any more. Which is why it feels weird to be asking for a moment on my own. Please?'

Matt stood with one hand on his hip and the other near his face, chewing on his thumbnail. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

'Tai, we can go in the kitchen, Meems can have a quiet moment in here.'

'No.' Tai's voice was stern.

'No?' Matt and Mimi spoke simultaneously.

'Matt, I'll be with you in a sec, Mimi, come with me,' he offered, taking her hand and pulling her down the hallway. He pushed open the door to the spare room and gestured for her to sit on the bed. He gave her the remote control for the TV and turned back towards the door. Mimi looked at him in confusion.

'Tai, I don't under…'

'You're staying here. For as long as you need, you're staying with me because I don't want you staying in some hotel on your own. Make yourself at home.' He kissed her forehead and left, shutting the door behind him quietly.

She didn't leave the room for the rest of the night.

* * *

'What are you doing up? It's early,' he remarked, looking at the clock on his bedside table.

'Eight's not that early. I couldn't sleep, and I've had all night to think about stuff… and there's no point in moping. Are you at work today?'

'Not today, Izzy's got me covered.'

'You don't have to stay with me, you know.'

'I'm going to anyway. I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing you were here on your own.'

'Ok, Mr Stubborn. You can help me today, then.' Mimi tilted her head and smiled feebly.

'With what?'

'I'm going home.'

'No you're not. You can't, the police are probably still looking for stuff. Besides, why would you want to?' Tai looked at her as if she was an alien.

'Actually, I called about an hour ago. They've got everything they need and I can go and start to clean up the warzone I like to call my house.' She'd thought about it all night and came to the decision. The sooner she started, the sooner it would be finished. She didn't know if she would feel ok when the time came to move back in. But she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. She turned to leave the room when Tai interrupted her.

'I have paint,' he said suddenly.

'What?' she turned back to look on him, a confused smile playing on her lips.

'Paint. I have… I can paint over the paint… the red paint,' he stammered.

Amused, she nodded at him. 'Ok. Why are you acting so weird?'

'I dunno. I want to help you, I'm just not sure how.' He shuffled on his feet, feeling like he was twelve years old again.

'You're doing more than enough. Thank you.' She kissed his cheek and left, shutting the door behind her. Tai stood rooted to the ground, staring at the spot she had been standing in, then shaking his head and making for his closet to make himself presentable.

In the hallway, Mimi leaned with her back against the wall. She sighed deeply, wishing that her newly developed feelings for the man behind the door she was leaning next to would stop complicating things. She had enough to deal with right now. _Make it all better Tai,_ she pleaded in her head. _Make me happy again._


	9. Chapter 9 - Too Close

**CHAPTER NINE – Too Close**

Mimi kneeled in her bedroom, putting ripped up magazines and a couple of ruined dresses into a large trash bag. She sighed, scooping up the black dress she wore on her night out with Sora. It was slashed, completely ruined. She through it in the bag and looked around. Despite the paint still lurking on the curtains and carpet, she felt better. Relieved, almost. Everything that was broken had been cleared out of her house with the help of Sora, who had pulled a sickie to help out, while Tai had been painting the stained walls downstairs. The three of them had been working hard all morning and most of the afternoon, and the place was almost completely tidy. Just for the upholstery to be cleaned now. Sora took the bag from Mimi and helped her to her feet.

'Thanks, Sora. I probably couldn't have done this without you.'

'Eh, it's no problem. Besides, it's the least I could do. I felt awful when I couldn't get to you as soon as I found out.' Sora looked at her friend guiltily.

'Don't be silly,' smiled Mimi. 'I'm so glad you're hear now, it means a lot.'

'Anytime, sweetie. Listen, I'm going to take all the broken shit round to my cousin's; her husband is a recycling freak, he might salvage a pen or something,' she laughed. 'Is that ok? I mean, there isn't anything you still want in here is there?'

'Oh god, no, just get rid of it all, your cousin's hubby probably won't get that much out of it though!'

'You'd be surprised, he's craaazy. I'll stop by Tai's later, I'll text you, maybe we can hang out?'

'Yeah, sure, talk to you later.'

'See ya!' And with that Sora left, heaving several bags. Mimi figured she should offer help, but knowing Sora she'd have been somewhat offended at the insinuation that she wasn't strong enough to do it herself. That was Sora all over. Strong, independent, resilient. In a way, she was everything Mimi wished she could be. Her friends saw her as strong. But her strength had always felt like a façade. There had been times when she hadn't even needed to think about something, just jumped into action and been commended for her bravery afterwards. But there were also situations where she would stand still, not quite sure what to do, and try to hide the fear running through her veins. Bravery and strength just came naturally to Sora, and it was her most admirable feature.

'Wanna take a break?' Mimi crossed her arms, leaned on the dry patch of wall and smirked at Tai. He looked funny, with flecks of white paint on his arms and shirt, and his face blotchy. _Still hot,_ she thought, without even attempting to push the idea from her head. It was undeniable; he was the epitome of beautiful, the ideal tall/dark/handsome kind of guy. Oh, what she wouldn't do to be able to…

'Sure, I could do with some water.' Tai put down his paintbrush, wiped his hands on his trousers and followed her into the kitchen, admiring her figure as she stretched to reach a glass from the cupboard.

'Here,' he said, standing behind her and reaching it effortlessly. It took Mimi a second to realise that his hand was resting on her hip as he reached around her and she felt her breath hitch and her heart rate quicken. _Oh wow,_ she thought to herself. _Looks like my day's getting better. _She turned to face him as he handed the glass to her.

'Thanks.' She smiled, filled the glass with water and passed it back to him, trying to control her shaking hands. He took a drink and set it down on the counter. They looked at each other wordlessly, each trying to figure out what the other was thinking, and after a moment of awkward silence, Mimi felt as though her prayers had been answered.

Tai moved so that he was just a few inches away from her and put his hands on her arms, steadying his breathing and wondering if she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. The urge to kiss her was overwhelming, and yet he felt that if he acted on it, it would be wrong, considering the fact that she was vulnerable at present. But his craving for her wouldn't relent, and he moved closer still.

'Mimi, we…'

'Meems, you in?' Matt's voice sounded through the hallway as they heard the click of the front door. Mimi and Tai moved away from each other, silently cursing Matt and his shitty timing.

'Uh, yeah, in the kitchen!' She shouted back, willing her flushed cheeks to return to their normal colour. Matt appeared in the doorway and looked at the awkward pair suspiciously, but before he had time to make any assumptions, Tai interrupted.

'What's up?' he asked casually, scratching his head.

Matt's voice was low, and both Mimi and Tai knew that he was about to deliver some bad news.

'They're letting her go.' He said it so quietly that they almost didn't hear him.

'What?' Mimi looked at him, confusion etched onto her pretty yet tired features.

'Miya. They're letting her go. There isn't a shred of evidence that she was here, and anyway, she has an alibi. It wasn't her, Meems.' Matt looked at his friend sympathetically, wondering if she could cope with any more bad news. He had begged TK to break it to her, simply because he couldn't be the one to hurt her any further, but TK had called him a pansy and told him to get it over and done with and that it would be better coming from him. Mimi stood, rooted to the spot, expressionless.

'How do you know this?' her voice was almost a whisper.

'My aunt is working on the case. She said that they're pretty useless at informing people of stuff and that you probably wouldn't find out for a while after she had been released, and she figured you had a right to know now. But Meems, when they tell you, you can't act like you already know, her job's on the line.'

'It wasn't her?'

'No. It wasn't her.'

'Oh my god.' Mimi sat on one of her (thankfully untouched) barstools and started chewing on her thumbnail. Tai perched on the one next to her and put his arm over her shoulders.

'It's ok, Meems,' he said. 'They'll find whoever did this. Won't they, Matt?'

'Yeah, course,' Matt replied, though he didn't sound certain.

'Who would do this?' whispered Mimi. Tai looked at her.

'I don't know, but they'll pay for what they've done, I promise.'

He thought about how badly he'd wanted her just a few minutes ago and compared it to the intense urge to protect her he was feeling now. _Jeez, the universe really doesn't like her,_ he thought to himself.

Mimi continued to bite her nails, a million thoughts running through her head. But one stood out further than the rest:

_If it wasn't Miya, who was it?_


	10. Chapter 10-Frustration,Nerves & Sickness

**The next couple of chapters will be a bit Takari-based, but we'll be back to Mimi and Tai soon enough :) Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER TEN – Frustration, Nerves & Sickness**

The past two months had flown by in a blur of police visits, intense cleaning and replacing of upholstery, and concerned friends visiting, using the excuse that they were 'in the area'. Mimi knew this wasn't true. Everyone had been tiptoeing around her, checking up on her and being generally worried for her wellbeing. She appreciated their concern, but she was starting to feel like a prisoner in Tai's home. He had gone back to work after a week of not letting her out of his sight, but she was under extremely strict orders to stay in the apartment, keep all doors and windows locked, and not answer the door or phone to _anyone._ Mimi had had enough. She had spent the last eight weeks accepting that there was someone out there who had some kind of violent grudge against her, and Tai, judging by the blood-smeared photo discovered in her bedroom, and although the idea of going out by herself didn't exactly make her feel safe, she didn't see why she couldn't leave the apartment _with_ someone. Besides, it was her birthday in a few days, the day after Tai's. Did everyone expect her to sit inside feeling sorry for herself when she should be celebrating turning twenty nine? She picked up her phone and tapped out a message.

_U feeling better today? I'm super bored, wanna hang out? X_

Walking into the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of water, hesitating when she remembered the incident involving her and Tai when they had been cleaning up her house. _Was it just me?_ She thought. _Or did he feel it too?_ There had been no close calls since then, just a bit of an awkward silence if they ever found themselves with nothing to talk about. Mimi wondered if she had imagined the whole thing. She was snapped out of her thoughts when her phone vibrated on the counter, making her jump. She picked it up and read the new message.

_A little, still feeling a bit gross. Hope it's not food poisoning. TK's not the best cook in the world. Urgh. Yeah we can hang out, I look as disgusting as I feel though, so don't laugh at me! I'll be over in ten x_

Kari had been feeling a little under the weather for a few days, and had told Mimi in the strictest confidence, knowing that if Tai knew she was sick, he would be frantic with worry about her, like he always was when she just looked a little pale. She had been off work for the last three days and she was not pleased about it. She was a kindergarten teacher, and she loved everything about it. She loved her colleagues, the kids and her bright, colourful classroom, and she absolutely hated spending time away from it. But since she still felt like shit, and Mimi was still feeling a little depressed, they figured maybe they could cheer each other up. Texting TK to tell him she was spending the day with Mimi and that she would order takeout instead of cooking tonight, Kari hauled herself out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and grabbed a hair tie. Her hair was dark, the same colour as Tai's, and it was at that awkward length just above her shoulders so that she could never do anything pretty with it. Sighing, she pulled it back into a ponytail, her bangs falling to the side of her face, and picked up her bag and keys. Just as she placed her hand on the door handle, she had a lurching feeling in her stomach and she ran to the bathroom. Reaching the toilet just in time, she threw up her breakfast and slumped on the floor. _I hate this,_ she thought. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

* * *

Mimi sat flicking through the channels on the TV, sighing in frustration. Hundreds of channels, and there was never anything good on. She walked over to Tai's impressive collection of DVDs, scanning through them and settling on a Narnia film. Prince Caspian. She laughed inwardly. _Ha! Who'd have thought?_ She giggled at the idea of Tai watching such a film, and put it on. Just as she pressed play, she was startled by a knock on the door. She looked over her shoulder for a second, and then mentally slapped herself. _You invited Kari round, idiot. It's just her._ She walked over to the door and opened it slowly, making sure that the latch was still on.

'Just me.' Kari whispered.

Mimi shut the door and took the latch off, opening it again for her friend, relieved. It wasn't until she'd closed the door behind Kari and locked it again that she noticed her appearance. Kari looked _dreadful._

'Oh god, Kar, are you ok?' She placed a hand on her friend's forehead. Kari stepped back abruptly.

'Don't come too close, I don't know if I'm contagious or not,' she replied. 'And no, I feel like shit.'

The two of them sat down in front of the TV, and Kari couldn't help but laugh.

'I know,' said Mimi, glancing at the film playing on the screen. 'I can't quite believe Tai owns it.'

'He doesn't,' giggled Kari. 'It's mine. I stayed here the last time I was sick because TK was away on business and Tai, being the crazy over protective freak he is, looked after me and had Matt, Izzy, Sora and Joe phoning to check in on me every five minutes when he was at work. I bought this film, and forgot to take it home.'

'You know he watches it in secret,' Mimi laughed.

'Probably.' Kari smiled, then bought a hand to her mouth and heaved. Mimi moved away and braced herself.

'Bathroom, now. I don't want to have to explain the mess to Tai,' she said, half joking. She watched as Kari took a deep breath and steadied herself.

'I'm ok,' she said. Noticing the look of concern on Mimi's face, she smiled in an attempt to make it seem less serious.

'Seriously, what's going on? Have you seen a doctor?'

'No, I'll be ok soon, give it a couple of days and I'll be right as rain.'

'Somehow I don't believe that,' said Mimi. 'Could it be a bug? Do you have a temperature? Oh god, you don't have the runs, do you?'

'No!' Kari exclaimed, defensive. The two of them laughed at Mimi's directness. 'Just an unsettled stomach.'

'That's it? You're sure?'

'I've put a bit of weight on recently, but it's probably because TK's trying to feed me up since I'm not keeping all of my food down.'

'Surely if you're throwing it up, you should be losing weight,' Mimi pointed out. She mentally prepared her next question, not wanting to freak her friend out. 'Kari… you have had a period, haven't you?'

Kari snapped her head up in a moment of realisation, and looked at Mimi, who was staring at her with a knowing look on her face, a smirk playing on her lips. Kari's reaction answered Mimi's question for her.

'Come on. There's something you need to do.' She stood up, picked up her bag and car keys and extended her hand. Kari nodded and took it with her own shaky one. Mimi briefly thought about Tai's strict instructions to stay put, but ultimately decided that this was more important. His sister, her _friend,_ needed her.

* * *

Tai paced his office, a million thoughts running through his head. He strode over to his desk and came to an abrupt halt, staring at the phone sitting on it. It had a message typed out, a message he had spent nearly a half hour planning and typing, a message that had been waiting, _unsent_, for an hour. During that hour, Tai had gawked at the message, read it a gazillion times, stared out of the window, taken a few brief calls, and paced. He'd paced _a lot._ But no matter how much thought he put into the whole godforsaken situation, he couldn't bring himself to hit the 'send' button. He picked up the phone and read it once again.

_I don't know if you've picked up on the tension between us lately, but it's been driving me insane. YOU'VE been driving me insane. I like u a lot more than I should, and I think we really need to talk and I know it's either going to make or break us, but I need to get this out in the open. Can we talk tonight? X_

A simple text with a very simple message. _And it sucked._ Tai pressed his lips together in determination and made a decision. Hovering his thumb over the button for a second, he shut his eyes and pushed it, holding it down. He opened his eyes again and stared at the screen. A blank message. _You pussy,_ Tai cursed himself. _Can't even tell her over a fucking text._ Angry at himself for deleting the message he'd thought about so long and hard, but too nervous to actually send one at all, he groaned and sank into his chair, wondering how he was going to get himself out of this sticky situation.

'I hate emotions,' he mumbled.

* * *

Mimi and Kari perched on the side of the bathtub, their hands intertwined, in silence. Mimi wondered what Kari was thinking. Looking at her flushed cheeks, she wondered if she was scared, excited or embarrassed. The truth was, Kari was experiencing all three of these emotions, and more. She was scared out of her wits, she was excited to discover her fate, and yet she was embarrassed, because as natural as it was, it had not been something she had even considered when she fell sick. Suddenly a wave of panic washed over her.

'TK! What do I tell TK?' she asked, her shaky hand covering her mouth.

'Nothing at the moment because you don't know anything yourself yet. Chill out Kari, everything's going to be fine. And if it comes down to it, TK's a good guy, it's not like he's going to be mad.' Mimi put her arm around Kari and looked at her watch.

'It's time.'

'Oh lord,' Kari bit her fingernail violently, making herself bleed. 'Shit.'

'Here, do you want me to do it?' Mimi offered. Kari hastily wrapped tissue around her bleeding finger and nodded, barely able to breathe. Mimi stood up and walked over to the counter where the life changing object lay next to the sink. She picked it up and almost dropped it again. Straightening her posture and taking a deep breath to steady herself so as not to startle her friend, she turned and looked her in the eyes. Kari looked back, hope and anxiety marring her pretty features.

'Kari…' Mimi started.

'What?' Kari stared at her, silently begging her to just get it over with. Mimi smiled warily, since she didn't know what Kari wished the outcome would be, and gave her the answer they'd just spent what felt like an eternity waiting for.

'You're pregnant.'


	11. Chapter 11 - New Life

**CHAPTER ELEVEN – New Life**

When Kari wandered into her apartment that night, she had expected to find TK writing in his study. Instead she slowly moved into the living room to find that he had bought pizza, and was ready to watch an episode of her favourite show, _Once Upon A Time._ Kari thought this was especially sweet, since TK hated the series and usually groaned when she, Sora and Mimi watched it together, although he often used it as an excuse to hang out with Tai, Matt, Izzy and Joe. Kari wandered over to him and kissed him softly, placing a hand on his face.

'Have I ever told you how awesome you are?'

'You might have mentioned it once or twice,' he smirked. That smirk seemed to be an Ishida/Takaishi trademark, clearly passed on to him by his brother Matt, who had mastered it to perfection and often used it to get what he wanted from any woman who took his fancy. TK's smirk was just as desirable, but it was saved for one woman, the woman he had fallen in love with when they were teenagers, the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Kari Kamiya. And it never failed to make her weak at the knees, and she would immediately give in to him, her only desire to please him. _Which is probably what got her into this situation._ She smiled and reminded herself to breathe, deciding that now probably wasn't the best time to drag him to bed. She needed to tell him something. Something that was going to change his life, something she prayed he would be happy about. She was excited yet terrified, she worried that she wasn't ready to be a mother, she stressed about telling TK, her big brother, her dad and… _Oh god. My mother, _she thought. _How am I going to be able to look after her while working and taking care of a baby?_ She shook her head and decided that would be something she would discuss with TK and hoped that Tai would be able to give her some advice.

'Are you ok?' TK's smirk faded as he eyed her with concern.

'Yeah I'm fine,' she replied. 'You're just distracting, that's all.' She winked at him and giggled. Christ, TK would have crawled over broken glass for that sound, that innocent yet mischievous laugh. The only sound that made his heart melt. The only sound that made him feel as though he would give anything to make her happy.

'Oh, is that so?' He laughed and picked her up, kissing her passionately. She deepened their kiss, giving in to him, and wrapped her legs around him, curling her fingers in his hair and pulling him so tightly to her that she wondered if he could still breathe, feeling as though she needed to be as close to him as she possibly could. He laid her on the couch, not taking his lips off hers for a second, savouring the knowledge that he was able to turn her on so easily. She hadn't been herself for a while, a bit moody, not to mention sick, and he wondered if it was a bad idea to be doing this if she wasn't well. But she welcomed the intimacy with great pleasure and who was he to deny the love of his life whatever she wanted? She tilted her head back as he kissed her neck, relishing in the feeling of his lips against her skin. TK moved back to her mouth and kissed her hard, his desire for her overwhelming. She unbuttoned his shirt and he lifted hers up slightly, one hand still in her hair as he was kissing her and placing the other one on her exposed waist. He groaned as she ran her hand over his chest and traced the nails on her other hand down his back. He needed her badly and all he wanted to do was take her right there. He let his hand wander down her stomach, but as it almost reached its destination, they were both snapped out of their ecstasy by the shrill sound of Kari's phone ringing.

'God damn it!' Kari reached out from under TK, who was still showering her neck and chest with kisses, and grabbed her phone, answering it without looking at the number.

'This better be good!' she snapped. She held the phone away from her ear, afraid that whoever was calling could tell that her breathing was heavy and irregular.

'Kari it's me.' Her brother's deep voice continued to speak, launching into a rant and bringing her out of her lustful haze. She sat up, forcing TK to sit back, his chest still exposed and distracting Kari to the point where she realised that she hadn't heard a word Tai had said to her.

'Kari, are you even listening to me?' he asked, his frustration showing in his voice.

'Er, yeah but my signal's pretty crappy, can't hear much,' she replied, still staring at her boyfriend, remembering her fingers being tangled in his blonde hair, the feel of his body against hers, his…

'I told you that Mimi wasn't to leave the apartment today!'

'Tai, she's a grown woman, not a pet, she can make her own decisions. And besides, it was kind of necessary,' Kari trailed off, not wanting to give anything away, to Tai _or _TK. 'Now if you don't mind, I'm just about to have a quiet night in with my boyfriend, so it would be nice if you would stop blaming me for stuff that isn't my fault. Mimi's older than me, I'm not really going to have much of an impact on her decision making, now, am I? Now you clearly have the hots for her, so just tell her because it might explain to her why you've been acting like such a possessive weirdo lately.'

'I so do not have the hots for… wait, why was it necessary?' Tai suddenly realised that there was more to the girls' outing than they were letting on and he wanted to know why they wouldn't tell him where they went.

'It was necessary because you've kept her like a prisoner for ages and I was worried she might go insane,' Kari replied quickly. 'Now, I love you Tai, but you have shitty timing so I'm hanging up now… mwah.' She quickly ended the call before Tai could realise what she was so busy with.

'Now where were we?' she asked TK, sitting on his lap, facing him.

'Well… we _were_ about to get down and dirty, but then your brother kinda killed the mood,' he laughed. 'And anyway, we have pizza that's going cold and a _shit_ programme to watch, so we can always do this later.' He winked at her, and she smiled, climbing off him and reaching for the remote control. As the opening credits showed, she thought of her current situation, and decided quickly that if she didn't make a confession now, it would only get harder. Thinking about how to break it to her boyfriend, she decided to drop the mother of all hints to him, just to see the look on his face. She took a bite of her pizza, then looked at him, mouth full.

'What?' TK looked at his girlfriend, wondering why she wasn't watching TV when all she'd done for the last few weeks was rave about this show. _I'll make him sweat,_ she thought. She chewed her pizza slowly and upon swallowing it, she plastered a fake look of contemplation on her face.

'I'm gonna need more of this,' she said, pointing at the pizza. TK looked at her, confused.

'Why?' he asked.

She spoke casually, as if simply making a comment about the weather.

'Well I _am_ eating for two, now.' She waited until she couldn't help herself anymore, and then let a nervous smile creep onto her face, seeing the look of pure shock on the perfect face of Takeru Takaishi. After the initial surprise, TK opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, as if he was struggling to find the right words to say. Eventually he found his tongue.

'You're…' he trailed off, and Kari finished his sentence for him.

'Pregnant.' She stared at him, desperate for a reaction other than shock, so that she knew how he felt about it.

'And I'm gonna be…'

'A father.' Kari couldn't help but smile at his awkwardness. It wasn't often that TK was speechless, and it was at times like this she wished she could capture it in a photograph. Needing more from him, she continued.

'TK, say something. Preferably more than half-sentences. I'm struggling here, I'm shitting myself and I need to know what you think.'

'I think…' he looked at her, searching for the right words, and his eyes wandered to her middle. He imagined the little thing inside it, a tiny person, completely vulnerable while being kept warm by its mother. Something they'd made together. _A baby,_ he thought. _My baby_. Looking back at Kari's face, he noticed the worry and hope she was radiating, and a realisation came to him. _This woman is carrying my child._ He felt a wave of love and gratitude wash over him, and he took her hands. 'I think it's incredible.'

'You do?' Kari felt relief wash over her, along with a smidgeon of surprise. She and TK had never really discussed children, they hadn't even thought about getting married, they had just lived together in their own world, an almost perfect relationship, and neither of them had ever felt a desire to change what they already had.

'I do.' He smiled at her and placed a hand on her face. 'You are amazing, Kari Kamiya,' he continued, 'and I love you more than anything in the world. _Both_ of you.'

**N'awww I do love me a bit of Takari :P Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was just a filler really, just wanted to explore the idea of TK finding out he's gonna be a daddyyy :P  
**

**Ooh, and another thing. Just a quick disclaimer, really. I DO NOT own any of the TV shows, movies, songs etc in this fic. Oh and I don't share TK's opinion on _Once Upon a Time,_ I'm totally with Kari on this one, I LOVE it :P Thank you for reading :)**


	12. Chapter 12 - Persuasion

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Mimi walked into the kitchen and sat at the table opposite an exhausted looking Tai, who was eating toast like it was too much effort for him. She tilted her head to the side and smiled sweetly.

'Taaaiiii?'

'What do you want?' he asked suspiciously.

'It's your birthday tomorrow,' she said simply.

'And?'

'It's mine the day after.' She continued to smile, and he stared at her in suspicion, waiting for her to ask him for the mother of all favours, since Mimi only ever gave _that_ smile for one reason: when she wanted something.

'What are you getting at, Meems?'

'Can we do something?' she asked quietly, head still tilted. Tai appeared to snap out of his tired state, considered her offer for a moment and smirked.

'Does 'something' involve nudity?' he winked. 'Ow!' He grabbed the arm Mimi had just punched and looked at her with mock sadness. '_Bitch,_' he said.

'Pick your bottom lip up, you'll trip over it if you're not careful,' she smiled. 'I _meant_ can we have a party or go out with the others or something? I've been cooped up here for ages. Not that I don't like it here, but I need to socialise with people who aren't only seeing me to check that I'm not dead.' She crossed her arms and sighed in frustration. Tai looked at her and saw a woman who was being driven insane by his sheltering of her, and he instantly felt guilty. He found himself wondering how Kari had coped with his overprotectiveness all these years, but then she had grown up with it. He suddenly realised that his sister had given a good point on the phone the other day; he _had_ been keeping Mimi like a pet, and he owed her some freedom.

'It's important to you, isn't it?' he watched as the frustration faded from her face.

'Yes, it is,' she replied wearily. 'I've done nothing but think about the shit that happened recently and the fact that no one's been caught yet, and to be honest Tai, I'm so fricking _tired_ of stressing out about it. I need to sort myself out and let some _good_ things happen to me because I'm not helping myself by sitting around crying like a baby. I just need to know what actual _fun_ feels like again.' Tai didn't know what it was, but all he could hear was the desperation in her voice, and he knew that by keeping her on lockdown, he hadn't really been helping her either. All he wanted, more than anything in the world, was to make her happy. And if having a party would do that, then that's what he would do.

'Ok Meems. We'll have a party. Tomorrow night?' He spoke as if no thought had gone into it at all, but the truth was, for the entire time she had been talking, he had been imagining how much happier she would be if she could just enjoy her birthday with her friends, and forget about the weird freak who had trashed her house, even if it was just for one night.

'Yes! Tai, you're amazing, you know that?' She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck, almost causing them both to topple over. Tai laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the floor. She pulled away, suddenly panicked.

'What is it? Have I hurt you?' Tai asked, immediately regretting his actions.

'No, it's just… Tomorrow night? Isn't that a bit short notice?'

'Mimi, we spend nearly every weekend with our friends, what will make tomorrow night any different?'

It was true, for the past two months, Tai and Mimi had spent almost every weekend at Tai's place with their friends, a lot of unhealthy food, and a vast amount of conversation with the main aim of taking Mimi's mind off her current predicament. Mimi shrugged.

'True,' she said. 'I'm gonna call Matt and Sora, they can invite a bunch of people too. The more the merrier, right?'

'Meems, how many people do you think will fit in here?' Tai laughed at her naivety but immediately stopped when he saw the glare Mimi was sending his way.

'Actually, I was thinking we could do it at my place. It's pretty much sorted now, with the exception of some stained carpets.' She noticed the sudden look of doubt cross Tai's face. 'And it's not like I won't be safe, you'll be there, and so will everyone else. I won't be alone for a second.'

'Fine,' said Tai. 'I'll let Izzy know in a bit. I've gotta leave for work now, we'll make some calls later, ok?' He kissed her forehead and picked up his keys.

'Ok. Oh, and Tai?' Mimi looked over her shoulder at him as he was leaving.

'Make it quick, I'm running late.' He winked at her, knowing that he was nearly always 'late', but being his own boss, he usually had people running around doing most of his work for him in the mornings anyway.

'Can I go out with Kari today? I wanted to get your birthday present.' Mimi spoke quietly and looked at him sheepishly, praying that he would say yes, because although she was her own person, she liked Tai to know that she was safe because it kept him happy. And she would have walked through fire for that. She had to see Kari, to discuss new developments in her relationship with TK, and to get Tai a present for his birthday, so she knew that she would just _have_ to leave the apartment today with or without Tai's say-so. She just hoped she would get his blessing, because she _hated_ the idea of going behind his back. She stood still, awaiting the inevitable lecture on staying in the apartment, when Tai did something that shocked her to her core. He nodded.

'Course you can. Make sure you stick with her though.' He paused, as if planning his next words carefully. 'And look after her, Meems. She's not been herself for a while.' Mimi smiled knowingly and then nodded excitedly.

'Yeah, I will. She _has_ been acting a little differently,' she hinted. 'But I have a feeling there's absolutely nothing _wrong_ at all.' Tai looked at her, the suspicion from earlier having returned to his features.

'Do you know something I don't?' he asked, one eyebrow raised.

'How would I know?' Mimi replied innocently, shrugging and smiling sweetly at him. Tai shook his head.

'Whatever. You girls and your secrets,' he said, finally leaving for work.

* * *

After picking up the huge photo canvas Mimi had ordered for Tai's present, a stunning collage of shots of the first eight Digidestined taken over the years, some photos taken in their childhoods and some very recently, she and Kari wandered through a shop that was empty, with the exception of a tanned, heavily made up young girl at the till and a snooty looking woman browsing the underwear section. Kari looked at a neon pink set longingly.

'Get it, Kar,' Mimi encouraged. 'TK'll love it.' She winked at her friend.

'What's the point? I'll look like a whale soon,' replied Kari.

'Oh stop, you'll snap back into shape in no time, you'll see.'

'Oh lord, I might have to have surgery or something,' Kari laughed. Mimi giggled and gently poked the smaller girl's tummy.

'Should have considered surgery _long_ beforeyou got knocked up,' she winked.

'Cheeky bitch!' Kari swiped at Mimi's arm before pointing at a very bright green underwear set. 'That's so your colour, Meems.' Mimi reached for it and began browsing the rail until she found her size, then held it up against her chest.

'I think you might be right,' she smiled. 'Sold to the lady who is going to look amazing with or without clothes tomorrow night!' She walked to the till and watched as the young girl scanned her underwear. As she took Mimi's money, she glanced at Kari and shook her head.

'Problem?' Mimi asked casually.

'Teenagers these days.' The girl had obviously overheard the friends' conversation about Kari's pregnancy, put two and two together and got five. _Bad timing._ Mimi was _not_ in the mood to take shit today, not that she was in the mood to take shit any other day. She smiled sweetly.

'Actually, she's twenty six. She's just lucky enough to have kept her youthful looks, unlike _some _people who _clearly_ use tanning beds so much that they'll look like a pensioner by the time they reach their mid-twenties.' The till assistant stared at her, mouth half open in shock. Mimi continued. 'So if you don't mind, I suggest you take your _wrong_ assumption and stick it so far up that non-existent ass that you choke on it, because we came out today to spend some time together, not to be criticised by fake little girls.' She snatched her change from the girl's hand and took the bag holding her new underwear off the counter. 'Have a lovely day, you judgemental bitch.' Still smiling sweetly, she grabbed Kari's hand and pulled her out of the shop, stopping outside to check that her friend was ok. She was surprised to see that, rather than being upset and hurt by the girl's criticism, she had a huge grin on her face.

'Mimi, that was amazing!' she said. 'I can't believe you just said that, no one's ever stood up for me like that before.'

'It's no problem babe,' replied Mimi with a shrug. 'There were critical bitches everywhere I looked in the industry I worked in; you just learn to put them in their places.' She winked at Kari, who hugged her in appreciation.

'Thank you,' she said. 'You're awesome.'

'It's been said before,' she laughed, linking her arm with Kari's and practically dragging her into another shop. 'Now, let's go get us some dresses. We are gonna be the hottest girls in the world tomorrow night, I'm gonna make sure of it.'

Kari laughed and nodded. She looked at Mimi, the girl who had just stood up for her in the fiercest way, and compared her to the feisty little girl she used to be. She hadn't changed at all. Still loyal, still warm and friendly, but still hiding the queen of sass and a brave lioness, willing to do anything for her friends. Kari smiled. She had the most amazing boyfriend, a big brother who would do anything for her, and as Mimi had just proved, the best friends she could ask for. She was still nervous about becoming a mother, but in that moment she realised one thing. _I will never be alone._

* * *

Tai sat on his desk, staring out of the huge window spanning the length and height of his office. He was feeling guilty about keeping Mimi on lockdown for so long, and he was determined to make it up to her. He was also thinking about the look on her face when he'd asked about Kari earlier. Like she _knew_ something. It had bothered him at the time, but now he figured that if it was Kari had been in any trouble, Mimi wouldn't have looked so excited about it. _I'll leave them to it,_ he thought. _It's probably just girl shit._

'You asked for me?' Izzy appeared in the doorway, holding a stack of papers.

'Oh, yeah. Party. Tomorrow. Mimi's house. Tell everyone.'

'Erm, ok. You need help setting up?'

'If you don't mind. You could help Mimi with music and stuff and I'll go and buy food and whatever.'

'Will there be alcohol?' Izzy raised an eyebrow and looked at Tai hopefully.

'It's our birthday, what do you think?' He smirked at Izzy. 'Looking forward to a repeat of last time's hangover?' Izzy raised his hand, almost dropping the stack of papers in the other and shut his eyes.

'Don't! It'll put me off!' he laughed. I'll call the others now; I bet they'll bring a load of people as well. Will that be ok with Meems?'

'From the mouth of Mimi Tachikawa herself: the more the merrier.' Tai sighed and shook his head, smiling as Izzy left his office.

He thought about everything that had happened since Mimi had been back in Japan; the confrontation with Miya, the invasion of her house, her mini-meltdown, and the realisation that her intruder was still on the loose, not to mention his ever-growing, intense feelings for her. For ages he had been constantly worried about her and her frame of mind but now he was feeling more confident that things would be ok. That _she_ would be ok. The person responsible for making the last couple of months hell for her would be caught soon, he was sure of it, and she could get her life back on track. For now though, he was going to make sure she was happy in spite of everything, and help her get some normality back in her life. Tai was looking forward to their party immeasurably, with both excitement and anxiety, for two reasons. One was that he was desperate to see her smile again, _really_ smile, not just the one she had been forcing for everyone else. The second reason was that he could be a little drunk when he could do what he had been meaning to do for a while. There was just one problem. _How do I tell someone I've known nearly all my life that I think I'm falling for them?_

**Crap chapter! Haha not too impressed with this one, but the next one is Tai and Mimi's 29****th**** birthday party, so be prepared for a whole lot of Michi action! The whole break-in case will be spread out quite a bit over this story, since I already know who is responsible but finding out who they are will fit in better with the end when things come to a head and Mimi finds herself face to face with them! I feel like this story so far has been rather boring, so I'll be adding a little more excitement from now on and I'll try to pick up the pace a little so as not to bore you senseless :) Thank you so much for reading, your time is greatly appreciated :)**


	13. Chapter 13 - Courage & Sincerity

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Courage and Sincerity**

The original eight spent their Saturday going to and from Mimi's house with food, decorations and a _lot_ of drink. Considering that the party was happening on such short notice, a lot of people had confirmed that they would be going, something Mimi was ecstatic about. She had been smiling since she had woken up and practically screamed 'happy birthday' at Tai and he had found himself taking more than a few glances at her, noting every time that her smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He also noticed that her smile was real, sincere, and he admired her for being so strong after everything she'd been though, especially since she'd been so close to cracking up when it first happened. He fought the urge to blurt out his feelings for her every time she walked past him, or every time she caught him glancing at her and flashed him a breath taking smile. The truth was actually that Mimi wasn't aware at all that Tai was checking her out. She assumed that he was checking to see that she was still here, being his protective self. Yet oddly, she liked it. For the first time in her life, she felt secure. For the first time, she felt that she had someone, with the exception of her brother, who cared about her and her safety, and would go out of his way to ensure it. She loved it. She had been taking a few sneaky peeks of her own at her protector and admiring him more and more with every glimpse. There wasn't one thing she disliked about him. He was strong, brave, caring, witty, and fun. _Not to mention a total hottie._ Mimi smirked at her own urges. She had previously annoyed herself with her unwanted desires for her friend, and had always mentally slapped herself to shake her out of it, but this time she just couldn't. She embraced it. She enjoyed it. And as they passed each other fetching things to and from their cars and her house, they both secretly enjoyed giving the attention they were both unknowingly receiving in return.

* * *

'Let me,' said TK, taking a box from Kari.

'TK, they're just crisps,' she replied, laughing. 'I'm hardly going to pull something.'

'I don't care. Not having my girls doing any of the work,' he winked.

'_Girls?_ What makes you so sure it's a girl?'

'Just a hunch,' he replied, smiling.

'Oh, is that so? Well keep your voice down and your hunches to yourself mister, I haven't told Tai yet and you haven't told Matt and I don't want them figuring it out before we find the right time, you hear me?' Kari tapped her boyfriend's arm lightly and grinned at him.

'Mom's the word,' said TK, and he smirked at his own accidental pun. He put the box under his arm, and put his free hand on the side of Kari's head. She stared at him, a confused smile spreading across her face, and he beamed at her, bursting with pride at the woman before him – the woman who, in a few months' time was going to give him the greatest gift she could.

'I was thinking of telling him today-'

'What are you two being secretive about?' Tai bustled between them, arms ladled with bottles, and turned to face them both, interrupting the intimate moment.

'Not a lot, TK's just being soppy,' said Kari casually, winking at her boyfriend.

'Not arguing with that,' replied TK, leaving the siblings alone.

'What's with him?' asked Tai, beckoning for his sister to walk back to the house with him. She followed obediently.

'He's just feeling sentimental, I guess.'

'You're telling me, the way he looked at you just then? Hell, even I was jealous of you,' Tai laughed. 'Seriously though, I'm glad you two are so loved up.' Kari looked at her brother and smiled.

'Aww, because I'm so happy?'

'No because it means you're _his_ problem now!' Tai stuck his tongue out at her and Kari took a swipe at him, narrowly missing, both of them laughing.

'You are such a prick, you know that?'

'I like to think it's all part of my charm.'

'Whatever.' Kari smirked at him. She watched him as he helped set up, and noticed how he was looking at Mimi, and she saw something. She saw another side to him. Tai had always been her big brother, the first man she ever loved, besides her beloved daddy, and the man she always looked to for courage and guidance. But now she saw him, really _saw_ him. Not just Tai - leader of the original eight and big brother, but Tai - the friend who would help anyone for nothing, and the man with a heart, and feelings – _obvious feelings_ – for another human being. It was a side of him that Kari had never really seen or noticed before, since it was well known that Tai Kamiya was not a relationship kind of guy, and yet it was painfully obvious to her that he would like nothing more than a relationship with a certain Miss Tachikawa. Kari smiled at the realisation that her brother was more _human_ than she gave him credit for, and she loved him even more because of it.

'Hey, Tai?' _It's now or never,_ Kari thought to herself.

'Hmm?'

'I have something I need to tell you.'

'You're not leaving TK are you? Because I'm not so sure I want that responsibility back,' joked Tai, finishing up and linking his arm with his sister's, walking back to his car.

'For Christ's sake, Tai, can't you be serious for just one second?'

'I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm awful. Do tell,' he said, stifling a laugh. Kari stopped in her tracks and unlinked her arm from his, taking his hand. 'Kari? What is it, what's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong. In fact, everything's right,' Kari smiled nervously. 'At least, I hope you'll think so. Because I do, and TK…'

'Kari, you're babbling. Tell me.' Tai had become nervous at his sister's uneasy behaviour, but it wasn't long before she put him out of his misery.

'Tai… I'm pregnant.'

Tai stood and stared at her for a moment, the information not processing in his brain until he noticed Kari clicking her fingers near his face.

'Tai? Earth to Tai? Did you even hear me?'

'Yes, I heard you. I just…'

'Oh my god, don't bother, I get it. You think I'm making a mistake and that I won't be able to handle a job and a baby and looking after mom-'

'No… Kari.' Tai took her other hand and held both of them in his for a moment, and as the initial shock subsided, a grin formed on his face and he let go, wrapping his arms around her and making a very un-masculine sound, which would have probably been a squeal had his voice not been so deep. 'Kari that's amazing! Oh, I'm gonna be an uncle! This is seriously the best birthday present _ever_! How far are you?' Kari giggled at his loss of composure, and Tai suddenly let her go, clearing his throat and crossing his arms.

'Only about nine weeks, I have a scan on Monday to find out how far I am for certain.'

'Well that's… that's good,' said Tai, trying to regain whatever masculinity he had left. 'Congrats, I guess.' He held his composure for a moment, then gave in to another smile and hugged her for a second time. 'I'm happy for you sis, I really am. I take it I can't tell anyone yet.'

'No, not yet. I just want to make sure everything's ok first.'

'You got it.' Tai kissed Kari's forehead and got into his car. 'See you at the party, then. And no drinking!'

'Yes sir.' Kari climbed into TK's car and thanked her lucky stars that Tai was happy for her. She would have kept her baby no matter what people said, but the fact that she had the full support of three of the most important people in her life filled her with happiness and relief, and she had to wipe a tear from her eye.

'What's wrong?' asked a concerned TK, taking her hand. She smiled at him.

'Nothing's wrong, baby. Everything's _right._'

* * *

She hadn't put a lot of effort into her appearance tonight… because Sora had. Mimi had chosen her outfit, a figure hugging red silk dress which came to just above her knees with a pair of nude Louboutin stilettos, and Sora had done her hair and makeup for her. Originally, Mimi had been nervous when she had suggested it, since although Sora always made herself up wonderfully, she didn't quite share the same taste in cosmetics. But the moment she looked in the mirror, she knew she had made the right choice. Sora had styled Mimi's hair to perfection - dark, deep waves cascading down her back, and her makeup was immaculate. Her skin was flawless and her eyes were dark and smoky. Mimi usually looked 'pretty', and sometimes 'hot', but tonight she looked sexy as hell and she was thrilled. She turned to Sora and sighed.

'You're awesome, you know that?'

'I must be, because you look shit hot.' Sora admired her handiwork on both herself and Mimi. She had done her own makeup similarly, but toned down the eye makeup considerably and added a dash of red lipstick.

'That makes two of us then,' said Mimi, applying a slick of lip balm. 'Seriously girl, you look gorgeous.'

'Thanks,' replied the redhead, turning and smirking at her friend. 'Who knows, I might get some tonight.'

'Oh my god, Sora, you fox!'

'I know, I know, I can't help it, it's been a while and I'm only human!' Sora giggled and Mimi let out the snort of laughter she had been holding back.

'Dirty cow,' she said, winking at her. A cough startled the two, and they both blushed when they looked up to see Matt, who was leaning against the door frame, clearly having heard the conversation since he was smirking in that gorgeous way that would make literally any girl with eyes weak at the knees. What shook Mimi up though, was the very sudden realisation that she would rather take Tai's loud, obnoxious laugh over Matt's lady-killing, heart-breaking smirk any day. _Why was she even thinking about him? Why was she comparing a friend's simple feature to a feature that Tai had?_

'Matt,' she said, snapping out of her thoughts, hoping that Matt hadn't noticed that she'd zoned out a little, and praying even harder that he didn't think it was because she was staring at him. She glanced at Sora and noticed that her head was bent, probably to hide the fact that her face was glowing brighter than her hair. 'Ever heard of knocking?'

'I shouldn't need to, the door's open,' he replied, grinning.

'Whatever. What's up?'

'Just wanted to tell you that people are here.'

'Oh. Uhm, ok. That's it?'

'Yeah. Oh, and Tai will be here in ten.' Matt looked at Mimi, still smiling as he turned to leave, and winked at her in a way that made Mimi certain that he was up to something. Or that he knew something. _What does he know?_ She thought to herself.

* * *

When Mimi and Sora came downstairs, they realised that a _lot _of people had arrived already. Spotting Kari, Mimi let go of Sora's arm and leaned close to her ear.

'I'm gonna go talk to Kar and TK, go get yourself a drink, hon,' she said loudly over the music. It was loud, and Mimi was thankful she didn't have neighbours. Sora nodded at her and made her way to the kitchen. Mimi slinked past a few people and approached the newly-expecting couple, who waved at her.

'Hey guys, I'm so glad you came, you both look _hot._'

'Not so bad yourself,' said TK, winking. Kari lightly slapped his arm and laughed.

'Down boy,' she said. 'You're a tied down man now.'

'And proud of it,' he replied, bending to kiss his girlfriend's forehead. Mimi clasped her hands to her chest and smiled.

'Aww, you two are so cute!' She moved closer to the pair and lowered her voice slightly. 'So did you tell Tai?'

'Yeah, he's thrilled,' Kari replied happily, and Mimi threw her arms around them, relieved for her friend. She knew how nervous she had been about telling her brother, and was glad it had gone so well for her.

'Good, I'm so pleased for you!' she squealed excitedly. She pulled away from the couple for a second, remembering how Kari had put her trust in her when she found out she was expecting, and how she had let her share the experience of finding out, and felt that she should return some of the trust. 'But TK, I'm gonna steal your girl for five minutes, make yourself at home, I think Matt's in the kitchen.' And with that, she took the smaller brunette's arm and gently pulled her into the bathroom, leaning on the door as she closed it behind her and letting out a sigh.

'Jeez, it's loud out there,' she said.

'You're telling me, I'm gonna go ahead and blame Tai though, he's always had a love of loud music at parties,' laughed Kari. 'Actually, I needed to talk to you about something as well. What's up, anyway?'

'I need your advice. And just someone to talk to because I'm driving myself insane here.' Mimi perched on the bathtub next to Kari.

'Meems, what is it? Oh lord, you're not pregnant too, are you?'

'No! No, no, no, nothing like that. It's just that, I think I might have feelings for someone and I don't know how to go about it.'

Kari crossed her arms and smirked. 'Go on.'

'Actually I don't think, I _know._ I know I have feelings for him, and I'm confused Kar, because I don't know what to do, I've never felt this strongly about someone, and I can't stop thinking about him, he's so perfect and he makes me feel safe and I've fallen so hard, oh god, Kari, I love him, fuck, I'm actually in love, how did I let this happen? How-'

'Mimi, stop.' Kari held a hand up to her friend, cutting her off mid-rant, and laughed in disbelief. 'First of all, who?' Mimi took a deep breath and braced herself.

'Tai.'

Kari stared at Mimi for a second, then shrugged.

'So, tell him.'

'What, just like that? Why are you not even a little shocked?' Mimi gawked.

'Because I already knew,' Kari replied. 'It was kind of obvious.'

'Shit. Do you think he knows?'

'Not a chance. Tai is smart and quick-witted, but he's never had much luck reading women's minds. He calls it his curse.' Kari smiled, pushed her friend back towards the door, and opened it. 'Now go get a drink down you and tell him. '

'Do I have a choice?'

'No.'

'Wait, Kari, you said you needed to talk about something.'

'That doesn't matter anymore. Oh, and Meems?'

'Hmm?'

'I think he might surprise you.' She grinned and with a small shove, pushed Mimi into the hallway, following and closing the door behind her. She inwardly praised her inner cupid as she watched her friend head for the vodka bottles, and went to find her boyfriend.

* * *

'Ishida!' An already tipsy Tai approached his friend, who laughed and put an arm over his shoulder, also slightly drunk.

'Happy birthday, man,' Matt said cheerily, handing him a card he had sneakily put a music voucher inside of. 'Where's the birthday girl? I didn't see her come down.'

'I'm fucked if I know,' replied Tai, his rubbish attempt at sounding as casual as possible being the final hint for Matt.

'You look pretty fucked as it is, bud,' he laughed, taking a drink. 'Although, you'll need to sober up if you want her to accept your advances,' he continued. Tai spluttered and turned to look at him.

'What are you talking about?'

'Oh come off it pal, you've been pining after Meems for ages, you really think none of us would notice the way you look at her?'

'That obvious?'

'That obvious.' Matt raised his bottle to his lips and winked at a blonde girl, who looked as though she might faint, and was receiving looks of pure envy from her three friends. Tai interrupted the pair's intense eye sex by clicking his fingers near Matt's face.

'What do I do?' he asked, suddenly glad that he didn't have to keep it to himself anymore and finding himself desperate for his friend's advice. Especially one as gifted with women as Matt.

'Talk to her, man. Tell her now, you need to give her the present you got her for her birthday anyway.'

'Now?'

'Now!'

'I don't even know where she is,' said Tai sobering up suddenly and panicking slightly.

'So go look for her, she can't be far,' replied Matt, urging Tai to leave him to go and find Mimi.

'Wish me luck then,' said Tai, downing the remaining drink in his hand.

'You don't need it, pal.' Matt watched as Tai walked away, and spotted Kari watching them both. He caught her eye and winked. He smiled as she gave him a happy thumbs-up in response. 'We. Are. Brilliant,' he mouthed to her. She nodded excitedly.

'I know,' she mouthed in reply.

* * *

Tai eventually found Mimi at the bottom of her large garden, sitting alone at a table with a glass in one hand and her phone in the other. She was reading a reply from Kari, who she had texted in a panic, not knowing what to say to Tai and practically begging her to tell her what to do, but her reply confused her.

_You don't need to do anything, it'll come naturally babe x_

Tai watched as Mimi looked up and noticed him standing a few feet away from her, quickly pressing the lock button on her phone.

'Tai… Hi,' she said, feeling hopeless.

'Hey. I loved my present, thank you.' Tai felt awkward, as though he had done something bad, but when she nodded and smiled, he sighed and sat next to her at the secluded table, far away from the party and its guests. He wondered if this was a good idea, but decided to just come out with it anyway. _Come on Tai, _he thought, _you hold the crest of courage for fuck's sake, don't pussy out now._ 'I need to talk to you about something.' Mimi stared at him in surprise.

'Me too, actually. But you first.'

He was fully aware that he was about to make a confession that would make or break his relationship with this girl, and it was a huge risk, but it was one that he was willing to take, if not for his own sanity then because she deserved to know.

'Ok. So we've spent a lot of time together recently, and I know that the reasons for it are pretty shitty, but I've enjoyed it all the same. And I need you to know that when you came back I was happy to see my friend again, and at first I felt ok, everything was going slowly but then it happened so quickly, I just…'

'Are you saying you don't want to see me anymore?'

'No! God, no, Mimi…'

'Then what? What are you trying to say?'

Tai sat up straight and took a deep breath. _It's now or never, Kamiya,_ he thought to himself.

'I don't know how it happened… but I think I've fallen for you, Meems.' He shut his eyes, preparing himself for her response. But it didn't come. Opening them again, he looked at her, and saw that she was staring at him in shock, her mouth opening and closing slightly as if she was trying to say something but couldn't quite find the right words. After what seemed like an age of anxiety for Tai, he smiled nervously and attempted to break the silence. 'Sometime today would be nice.'

Mimi put her head in her hands, at a loss of what to say, and completely taken by surprise at his confession. She had wanted to tell Tai how she had been feeling too, but she hadn't expected him to tell her first. She hadn't expected him to tell her at all. After their close call in her kitchen when they were cleaning up, he hadn't mentioned a thing to her about it and she had assumed that he had forgotten about it. Or that she had imagined it, that it was just her feelings playing games with her. When she couldn't reply, Tai stood up to walk away. Turning back, he looked at her and struggled to keep his heart from hurting. _Why am I surprised? _He thought. _Why would a sweet girl like her want someone as obnoxious and arrogant as me?_

'I'm sorry, Mimi. I just needed to say something, just in case-' he was stopped mid-sentence by Mimi herself, who had suddenly risen from her chair, walked up to him and kissed him. He responded, placing his hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair and snaking his other arm around her waist, putting his hand on the small of her back. For a while, he had been plagued by urges to grab her, kiss her and take her against a wall, or on the kitchen counter, but now he found that he could only be gentle. She was still slightly vulnerable in a way, and all Tai wanted to do was love her. He couldn't be rough with her, she was too sweet, and so he held her and kissed her softly as she placed her hands on his chest and pulled herself close to him, completely unaware of the man and woman watching them from a distance.

'Told you,' said the girl, nudging the man standing next to her.

'Never doubted you for a minute. Let's go in, I feel like a pervert watching them,' he laughed.

'Ok. TK has big news he wants to share with you anyway,' Kari replied, taking Matt's arm and pulling him back into the house.

Tai pulled away from Mimi, looking into her big eyes and smiled.

'What did you want to say?' he asked, suddenly remembering that she had needed to tell him something too.

'Oh, same thing,' she replied casually, laughing and waving her hand as if it was nothing.

'I see. Oh, here.' He took out a small velvet box from his pocket and handed it to her. 'Happy birthday for tomorrow,' he winked. She opened it to find a beautiful silver necklace with a charm in the shape of her crest's symbol, and gasped. _Sincerity._

'Tai, it's beautiful! Thank you,' she smiled, taking the chain, handing it to Tai, and pulling her long hair over her shoulder. 'Could you?'

'Sure.' Tai took it from her and draped it around her neck, fastening the back, and planting a small kiss on her shoulder. 'You look beautiful, by the way.'

'Thank you. Not so bad yourself,' she replied quietly, grinning at him as if all her Christmases had come at once. Despite all the shit that had been thrown at her since she came back, she found that she had honestly never been happier. And when he looked at her, she knew instantly, that he was _the one. _He kissed her lips once more, then took her hand and started to walk back to the house. As they moved further and further away from the table they had been standing near, a person standing in the shadow of tree not five meters away moved. Clenching their fists in anger, they shut their eyes and breathed deeply, making a silent threat to the man who had just kissed the beautiful brunette. _You will NOT get away_ _with this._


	14. Chapter 14 - Caught Out

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN – Caught Out**

'Is there something going on with those two?' asked TK, looking in the direction of Mimi, who had her arms around Tai's neck and was laughing as she danced with him. Tai was clearly loving the attention, and had his hands on her hips, smiling as he pulled her closer to him. Both were rather drunk, having been drinking for a few hours, and they were showing no signs of relenting anytime soon. Neither were any of the other guests, who were obviously enjoying themselves, dancing, singing, laughing and drinking. Matt and Kari looked at each other and stifled their laughs.

'How would we know?' Matt asked coolly. He nudged TK and passed him another bottle, then offered Kari a wine glass.

'Matt, I can't drink this,' she said.

'Relax, it's non-alcoholic, mommy,' he replied, laughing. 'Besides, I _was_ drinking to my best friends' birthdays, now I'm celebrating becoming an uncle! My baby bro's gonna be a daddy, imagine!' he chuckled, and TK shot him a warning look.

'Matt, keep it down, will you?'

'TK, this music's so loud I'm surprised anyone here can hear themselves think, I don't think anyone's listening,' he replied, standing between Kari and TK and putting his arms over both of them. 'This is awesome, seriously. The only thing missing for me tonight is a hottie, since Kari's off limits now.' TK snorted.

'Like you'd have a chance with her, bro,' he smirked.

'Jeez, Matt, do you ever _not_ think with your dick?' Kari rolled her eyes.

'No… where's the fun in that?' he replied, looking at them and grinning as he walked backwards. Then he turned and left, heading for the garden for a smoke. _And probably to hunt for tonight's one night stand,_ thought TK. He stood bewildered, wondering how he and his brother could be so alike physically, but oh so different underneath. It appeared that Matt needed lots of different women to keep himself functioning, but TK had Kari, and he couldn't imagine his life any other way. Looking back at his girlfriend, he imagined that he would be overcome with nothing but pride and love, but he looked at the outfit she was wearing – a pink halter neck top with _very_ short shorts – and he was taken over by a different emotion completely. _Lust. _And judging by the way she was very obviously undressing him with her eyes, he assumed that she was thinking the same thing. He winked at her.

'Upstairs?' he mouthed.

Kari didn't need to be asked twice. She grabbed his hand and headed for the stairs, looking around to make sure that Mimi wouldn't notice that she and TK were going to be making good use of one of her bedrooms. Practically dragging TK behind her, she pushed him into a bedroom and shut the door behind her, and much to his delight, launched herself at him.

'Christ, Kari,' he said as she pulled at his shirt.

'Blame the hormones,' she replied breathlessly.

'Why would I blame them? I like them,' he smirked as he pulled her top over her head and kissed her passionately as they sat on the bed. _This is why I don't understand Matt,_ he thought._ How could anyone not be satisfied with the same person?_ He pulled away for a second as he took her in. All of her. He couldn't help but notice just how breathtakingly perfect she was to him, and he pulled her back to him.

'I'm the luckiest man in the world,' he said between kisses.

'You better know it, baby,' she replied, putting her hands in his hair and knowing just how lucky she was too.

* * *

Mimi stood at the kitchen counter with Tai and Sora as they downed two shots each. She was having more fun than she'd had in ages, and she was happy that all the people she loved were here to celebrate with her, minus her dad and brother. _And mama,_ she thought sadly, but shook her head and told herself that her mother would be pleased that she was enjoying herself. She was shaken from her thoughts when Sora snorted loudly as she almost choked on her second shot.

'Christ, what is it?' shouted Tai. Sora laughed and pointed to the open glass door leading onto the patio. Mimi and Tai turned to look in the direction she was pointing. All three of them stood with their mouths open as they watched none other than Matt, cigarette in one hand and a woman in the other, standing tall with his head bent, tongue evidently exploring the mouth of the pretty blonde girl he had winked at earlier that evening. That was always Matt's scheme. He would target an attractive woman, eye her up a little, his eyes letting her know he wanted her, then he would make his move. He called it 'the hunt', and in Matt's case, it was _always_ successful. It had always been pretty successful on Tai's part too, but now he couldn't think of anything he wanted to do less. He had what he wanted, he didn't need any more cheap one night stands.

'Get in there Matt!' he shouted at his friend. Matt didn't pull away from the girl, nor did he stop to take his mouth off hers; he simply gave the trio his middle finger as he continued with his mission. Tai, Mimi and Sora laughed.

'Typical Matt,' sighed Sora.

'You ok?' Mimi looked at her flame-haired friend.

'Yeah I'm fine.'

'Is someone jealous?' asked a shocked Mimi.

'No! Yes. A little. Not of that,' she said, pointing at the blonde couple making out just outside. 'But everyone's getting some, and I'm not,' she laughed, sticking her bottom lip out in mock sadness.

'Hey, I'm not either,' remarked Mimi, and she put her arm around Sora.

'That could be changed,' hinted Tai, putting his hand on her waist, and Mimi rolled her eyes, smiling. Sora looked at the two of them and felt her eyes widen when the penny dropped.

'Oh my god!' she cried. 'You two?'

'Maybe,' Tai smirked. 'But hey, you're welcome to join us, you are a friend in need, after all.' He laughed loudly, and Mimi shook her head, grinning.

'Ignore him, babe,' she said. 'Come on, I'll get you hooked up,' she winked. Hesitantly, Sora agreed.

'Fine. But no walking STIs, please.'

'Oh sweetie, would I ever?' Mimi stopped and pointed at a youngish looking man with dark red hair. 'Him.'

'Him?' Sora looked at Mimi in disbelief. 'You can't be serious!'

'Why? He's got a little crush on you, and you know it. That's easy sex, right there.'

'Mimi, you make me sound like a slut.' Sora crossed her arms.

'Oh come on, it's one time, it's not like you do this all the time. Besides, I think it's time you cleared the cobwebs down there,' Mimi giggled and dodged her friend's hand, which came into contact with her arm. 'Ouch, jeez Sora, I'm just playing.'

'But _Davis?_'

'Yes! And why not? He's handsome, funny, _and _he fancies you. What's not to want?'

'But I'm old enough to be his mother.'

'Dramatic much? He's Kari's age, he's only like three years younger. Just go!' And with that she shoved Sora towards the young man and hoped that cupid's arrow would hit again. The target was Davis Motomiya, another Digidestined, though not one of the original eight, and much like Matt, was very female-focussed. His feeble attempts at pulling usually went ignored though, since his blatant approach usually told women that he was only after one thing, and it put them off. Matt went all the way, telling women what they wanted to hear, in order to get what he wanted. Sora, however, wasn't interested in anything serious tonight, so Mimi decided that Davis and his sex-pest attitude was the perfect option. Smiling as she left them talking, she went in search of Tai.

She found him in her dining room, where the music was quieter and they were alone. Tai was sitting near the window, head in his hands, clearly trying to sober up a little. Noticing Mimi, he stood up, almost falling over.

'Hey,' she said quietly, suddenly shy.

'Hey you,' he replied, looking at her hands, which she had clasped in front of her as she twiddled her thumbs nervously. 'You ok?'

'Yeah. You?'

'Yeah.' The two stood in silence for a moment. Not ten minutes ago, they had been dancing and laughing, feeling comfortable and at ease with each other, now with the music gone, they suddenly felt awkward. 'Meems…'

'Oh god, don't tell me you've changed your mind already,' she said, half joking.

'No, of course not, it's just that… I meant what I said earlier.'

'Refresh my memory,' Mimi requested, wanting to hear it again, the words still singing in her mind.

'That I've fallen for you.'

'I believe you. What's this about?' she asked, rapidly becoming suspicious. He walked over to her and put his hands on her hips, inviting her to wrap her arms around his neck, which she did. 'What's the matter, Tai?'

'It's just that I've never felt like this before, so it's all new to me. And I don't want you thinking that this is the same as any other time I've been with a girl. Because it isn't. I have fallen for you, like _really _fallen. Hard. And I didn't want to say it outright earlier because I didn't want to freak you out or scare you off, but…' he paused to gather his confidence, which was slowly slipping away.

'Tai?'

'I love you. Like, really, really love you. And to be honest, it scares me a little. Mainly because I've never been in love before, and partly because it's so soon – we're not even together. Maybe it's completely crazy.'

'How can it be crazy? We've known each other for most of our lives, we grew up together, we're similar in so many ways, and I've been living with you for god knows how many weeks now… I know how you feel because I love you too. And it scares me as well. See, I went through a phase where I tried to convince myself that I couldn't possibly love you because I hadn't dated you, but then I thought: what does that matter? Who's to say I can't fall in love with someone who cares about me, someone who looks after me and would obviously do anything for me? And now I realise that it's _that_ that was crazy. Convincing myself of something that wasn't true and didn't even matter. Because if you love someone it _shouldn't_ matter. I know you better than I know myself half the time, and there honestly isn't one thing I don't love about you. I just don't see why I never noticed before I left for New York.' She placed her hand on the side of his face a looked into his eyes. 'And besides, maybe the whole 'not dating' thing could change.' Tai smirked and tilted his head to one side.

'Are you asking me out, Miss Tachikawa?' he asked, amused. She blushed.

'Maybe I am, Mr Kamiya.'

'Then how could I say no?'

She smiled as he bent to kiss her softly, brushing his thumb over her cheek in the same way he did when they had kissed earlier, making her feel more loved and secure than she had ever felt in her life. Their intimate moment was interrupted when Tai's phone started ringing, and still a little drunk, he fumbled to get it out of his pocket, almost dropping it as he answered.

'Hello? Yeah, it's me.' Mimi watched as the colour drained from Tai's face. 'Right. I'll be right there.' He ended the call and headed for the door. Mimi caught his arm.

'Tai, what is it?'

'Kari, where's Kari?' he asked, his voice filled with panic.

'Uh, I dunno, I've not seen her for a bit,' she replied, thinking. 'What's the matter?'

'I gotta go, something's happened.'

'Well then let me come with you.'

'Mimi…'

'Please, Tai. Let me help. Whatever it is.'

'Alright, but you gotta help me find my sister first.'

'Ok, you look in the kitchen and I'll check the bathroom.' Mimi nodded at Tai, desperately wanting to know what had got him so worried, but also needing to help him in any way she could. He agreed, and they both left the dining room, walking into music so loud they had trouble thinking straight, and pushing past people to look for Kari. Tai scanned the kitchen. Being taller than a lot of the people there, it wasn't so hard for him to notice that Kari was definitely not here. Nor was TK. _Maybe they've gone home,_ he thought. Heading back, he spotted Mimi coming out of the bathroom, pushing through the people who were lining up to use it and shaking her head. _Dammit._

'Let's look upstairs, she probably got fed up of the music or felt sick or something,' Mimi suggested, taking Tai's hand as the two of them ran up the stairs. They ignored the wolf whistles of people below them, who obviously thought they were going upstairs hand in hand for another reason. They split up at the top of the stairs, Tai checking rooms on one side of the landing, and Mimi checking on the other. After no luck finding her, they met at the last door, the door to Mimi's bedroom, and Tai opened it, with Mimi behind him. She heard a scream, and walked into Tai as he abruptly stopped and turned back to face the door.

'For fuck's sake, what the fuck, Kari?' He shouted as he still faced the door with his back to his sister, who pushed herself off her confused boyfriend and dressed herself quickly. Mimi looked around Tai and saw Kari, blushing like crazy and looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her, and TK, who was pulling his jeans up, cursing. Kari stood behind her brother and looked at the back of his head.

'Tai, I'm sorry, I am so sorry,' she started.

Tai held up his hand to stop her.

'Don't. Just don't. I only came to find you to tell you that dad just called.'

'Why? What's the matter?'

'Mom's in hospital.' When he was sure that Kari was fully dressed, he grabbed her arm and they rushed downstairs to beg Joe, who was the only sober party guest besides Kari, who Tai decided was going to be too upset to drive back, to give them a lift to the hospital. Mimi stood in the doorway for a second, staring in shock at TK, who was running his hands through his hair. Obviously she knew they'd had sex, Kari was pregnant after all, but it was still disturbing to actually walk in on them, and with Kari's brother as well! Matt appeared behind her and looked at his brother.

'What's going on?' he asked, frowning.

Mimi ignored him, still staring at TK. '_In_ _my bedroom_?' she mouthed.

'I'm sorry,' he shrugged guiltily, and Mimi left him with Matt to follow the Kamiyas, her eyes still wide and her mouth still hanging open.


	15. Chapter 15 - Giving Up

**Warning: This chapter contains content related to mental illness, if you are easily triggered please be prepared. **

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Giving Up**

'How the fuck did it come to this?' Tai paced the corridor, running his fingers through his hair, while his sister sat on a chair chewing her fingernails, her knees bought up to her chin. 'And where the fuck is dad?'

'Tai, stop with the swearing, dammit,' Mimi said quietly. 'You're upsetting Kari.'

'Yeah well she should be upset. Because while our mother was trying to top herself, she was busy getting down and dirty with TK.'

'Hey! That's enough; none of this is her fault. And it's not like you were expecting this to happen either, I mean look at you! You're still drunk, for crying out loud!' Mimi immediately felt bad for raising her voice to him, but she wasn't about to let her friend take the blame for something she had no part in. Tai approached the pair of them and sat down next to his sister, putting his arm around her.

'I'm sorry, Kar. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that.' Kari sniffled and wiped a tear from her mascara-stained eye.

'I know. I'm sorry you saw what you saw, Tai.' She shifted awkwardly, but Tai tightened his grip on her.

'Don't be. It's not like none of us have ever done it.'

'But none of you were caught by your brothers,' replied Kari, letting out a stifled giggle followed by a loud sob. 'Why is this happening, Tai? I'm twenty six and you're twenty nine, why are we having any chances of enjoying life taken away from us?' She looked at him, struggling to hold back her tears. 'I know it sounds selfish. But I'll be having a baby in less than seven months, and yet here I am, still having to look after my mother and attempt to keep my job at the same time. How am I going to manage with a kid?'

'It's not selfish, Kar.' He kissed her head. 'And you're gonna be just fine, because you have me, TK, Mimi and Matt. And when you tell the others you'll have them as well. You're never gonna be on your own, I promise.' He looked at her and smiled weakly. 'I'm your big brother, you think I'd ever let you down?'

'No,' she answered simply. The trio sat in silence, Tai keeping his arm around his sister, Mimi holding his free hand, and Kari watching Joe pacing the corridor, much like Tai had been doing when they arrived. After what seemed like an age, Joe sighed, breaking the silence.

'Do you need me to do anything?' he looked at Tai, who had completely zoned out. Mimi nudged him.

'Tai, Joe's speaking to you,' she pointed out. He pulled his gaze away from the wall, blinked a few times and stared at his blue-haired friend. Joe smiled at him sympathetically.

'Do you need me to do anything?' he repeated quietly.

'No.' Tai shook his head and then looked back at him. 'Wait… You can tell Matt what's happened, make sure the others are ok, and get everyone else out of Mimi's house. Party's over.' Joe nodded and turned to Mimi.

'You need a lift back?'

'No, I'm gonna stay with these two,' she replied. 'Tell Sora and the others they can stay at my house, but make sure the door's locked.'

'Will do,' he said. He started to walk away, then turned back to the distressed siblings. 'Hope you're mom's ok, guys.'

Tai had resumed staring into space, but Kari looked up and nodded in appreciation.

'Thank you,' she replied. She watched as he left, and then let out a weak laugh.

'What's so funny?' asked Mimi, staring at her.

'You really think Joe of all people will be able to clear your house of your drunken guests?

Mimi smiled slightly as she imagined everyone ignoring Joe as he shouted for everyone to leave.

'There might be some problems,' she replied.

* * *

Joe arrived back at Mimi's house, almost running over Sora, who was standing in the driveway kissing… _is that Davis?_ He thought as he pulled to a stop and got out of the car.

'Sora, inside, now!' he said, grabbing her arm. He then put his hand around Davis' wrist and pulled him away from Sora. 'And you can put her down, you don't know where she's been,' he continued. Davis groaned loudly and reluctantly followed him inside, dragging an angry Sora behind him.

'Joe, Davis, do either of you want to tell me what the hell is going on?' shouted Sora, blowing a strand of red hair away from her eyes. Davis shrugged at her.

'No,' he replied. 'Because I haven't got a clue.' Sora looked from Joe, to Davis, then back to Joe again, who was looking around the mass of people crowding Mimi's house.

'Joe?' she shouted over the deafening music. 'JOE!'

'Just help me find Matt,' he yelled, and the three of them split up to search for him.

'Matt!' Davis yelled over the music. He shouted as loud as he could, but the tall blonde man standing on the patio was completely oblivious as he bent his head over the girl in front of him. Davis decided to find Sora and Joe to tell them he'd found him, but turning around, he bumped into TK.

'Davis, what's going on? I've texted Kari but I've heard nothing,' he said nervously.

'Something's happened, obviously, but I need to get to Matt. Joe's looking for him.'

'Say no more,' said TK, and he pushed his way through a frustrated crowd of people towards his older brother.

'Have you found him?' Sora appeared at Davis' side, confusion marring her features.

'Yeah, TK's gone to get him. He's outside eating a blonde girl's face.'

'Still? Christ, I'd have thought he'd have humped and dumped her by now. Seriously, what do you think's going on?'

'With Matt or with Joe?' Davis replied sarcastically. Sora was just about to start complaining when they were interrupted by Joe.

'Why are you two chatting? You're meant to be looking for Matt!' he panicked.

'No need, we found him. It's just taking a bit of effort to attract his attention at the moment,' said Davis casually. Joe shook his head and raised his hands.

'Can I get everyone's attention please?' he shouted. _Nothing._ He shouted again. 'Can you all just stop for a second?' He was ignored as the partygoers continued to dance and drink, not paying him the slightest bit of attention. Joe let out a long, exasperated sigh. Suddenly, the music stopped abruptly, and everyone shouted, chatted, and groaned.

'What? Where's the music gone?' someone moaned.

'All right, who's the killjoy?' a girl shouted irritably. Every person in the room buzzed and complained, making Joe's ears ring.

'WILL EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?!' a voice thundered. The noise from the guests subsided as they all turned to look at Matt, who was standing next to Joe, Sora and Davis, his face red and his blonde hair plastered to his forehead. After a moment of silence, he turned to Joe. 'Sorry, pal, I'll buy you a hearing aid,' he joked.

'By all means, carry on,' Joe replied, holding up his hands to him. Matt nodded and continued.

'Party's over, kids. You know where the door is, and if you're wasted, _please_ take a cab or a ride with a friend, we'll have no deaths tonight, d'ya hear me?' He watched as the mass of guests made their ways to the door, some groaning, yet surprisingly, Matt found a lot of them telling him that he had to congratulate Tai and Mimi on an awesome party. Joe approached Matt once more as everyone left.

'Matt, Tai told me to tell you something, do you have a minute?'

'I already know, TK said you needed me, then Mimi texted me and told me what had happened.'

'But she knew I was coming to tell you,' said Joe, squinting in confusion.

'Yeah well, she assumed that you'd have a hard time getting everyone to leave. As it turned out, she assumed correctly.' He smirked as Joe blushed.

'What are we gonna do?'

'There's nothing we can do at the moment. We stay here, and when we've all sobered up we'll call Tai or Kari. I know it's their mom who's not well, but right now, they both need people to be there for them too. So that's what we're gonna do.' Matt put his hand on Joe's arm.

'Sorry we interrupted your little make-out session,' said Joe sheepishly. Matt shrugged.

'Eh, no biggie. Got her number anyway.'

'You took her number? That doesn't usually mean much for you.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Matt crossed his arms defensively.

'I mean, usually you take a girl's number and delete it the moment she's out of sight.'

'Yeah well.' Matt smiled. 'This one's different.'

* * *

Tai, Kari and Mimi stood up abruptly and stared at the man walking towards him.

'Is she…?' Tai looked at his dad and silently begged him to put him and his sister out of their misery.

'She's ok. They've upped her meds, she's quite drowsy so she's a little confused, but they've said you can see her if you're up to it.' All three of them breathed loud sighs of relief as he continued. 'I have to go to your grandmother's; she's going out of her mind with worry. I'll call you in the morning, Kar. And Tai… I know this is in unbelievably shit circumstances, but… I hope you've enjoyed most of your birthday, son.' Tai nodded sadly as he watched his father leave. He felt a hand close on his and looked up to see Mimi standing close to him.

'Go see her,' she said quietly. 'She needs to know she has people who care.' Tai looked at her, and then at the doors to the ward his mother was on.

'Come with me,' he whispered. Mimi shook her head.

'It'll probably be family only at this point,' she said. 'I'll be waiting here for you.'

'No.' Both of them turned to see Kari standing behind them, eyes welling up. 'I can't deal with this right now. Mimi, go with Tai, tell them you're me. I can't… I just can't.' And she fled the hospital, tears burning her cheeks.

'Kari…' Tai went to stop her, but Mimi held his arm.

'Tai, give her some time, this is difficult for her. She has a lot of things on her mind at the moment, she just needs time to get herself together.'

Tai nodded at her. 'So you'll come with me?'

'If that's what you want.'

'I do.' He thought about how alone he felt now that Kari had expressed her anguish, and realised that at this moment, Mimi was all he had. 'I need you right now, Meems.' She squeezed his hand and nodded.

'I know,' she said quietly. She remembered how Tai had looked after her since the incident at her house, and how he had made her feel safe, and knew that she owed him the same. 'I'm here,' she continued. 'And I'm not going anywhere, I promise.'

Kari stood outside, taking long, deep breaths of the cold night air. She was still wearing her shorts, and her legs were starting to feel numb, but she didn't even think about it. Instead, she thought about her whole life, picturing events over and over again. When she first got sick - she didn't remember much of it, but she knew that Tai still blamed himself for it to this day – when she discovered that she was the Eighth Child, every battle she fought in, every digimon she helped, every friend she'd made in a completely different world. And then she started to think about her life post-Digital World, when she first realised her feelings for TK, the boy she'd grown up with, when she graduated high school, when she went to college, when she got her dream job… and when her mother started to deteriorate. She and Tai had always known that there was something not quite right with her, she was unpredictable, and they had learned how to cope with her sometimes erratic behaviour and looked after her when she was feeling low. She had seen doctors and was put on medication, but she refused to talk to anyone about how she was feeling, and would convince herself that her pills were bad for her, leading her children to ensure that she took them every day. _Oh god, _thought Kari. _This is it. They're going to lock her away._ Shivering, she took out her phone and tapped a contact, waiting for the dialing tone.

'Kari? What is it?'

'I can't do this now, can you pick me up?'

'Sure, you still at the hospital?'

'Yeah.'

'Ok. I'll be there in ten.'

'Thanks, Joe.'

She ended the call, her hands shaking. She was annoyed with herself. She knew that her mother needed her. But this was too much for her to take in. _I'm such a pussy,_ she thought to herself. She sighed and wiped her eyes. _But I really can't deal with this._

* * *

'Mom?' Tai, still squeezing Mimi's hand, pulled back the curtain and stepped over to the bed. Mimi gasped inwardly. She remembered Yuuko very well, including her mood swings, since she had been close friends with her children since her own childhood. But she had been in New York when she started to worsen, and hadn't really seen the extent of it until now. Yuuko was pale and thin, her black hair lank and greasy, and she was tired and disorientated from the drugs she had been given. Nevertheless, she opened her eyes and looked at her son.

'Tai… I'm sorry,' she started. Tai held up his hand to her.

'Mom, don't. You don't need to explain anything yet. Just wanted you to know that I'm here.'

Yuuko looked at her son and noticed the woman standing next to him, recognising her immediately.

'Mimi dear… is that you?' Mimi moved towards the bed and held Yuuko's hand.

'Yeah, it's me,' she replied.

'You haven't changed,' she mumbled. 'You've always been a pretty girl.'

Mimi smiled sadly. 'And you've always been too kind.'

Tai sat on the other side of the bed, watching Mimi and his mother. The fact they had spent so much time apart yet still remembered and cared for each other was touching to him. He remembered when Mimi used to come over to his house when they were teenagers. His mother would cook her dinner, and Mimi would eat it, too polite to mention that Yuuko could _not_ cook. They would laugh together, usually at Tai's expense while he grumbled, playing on his PlayStation with Matt. They would have long, deep conversations about anything and everything, and while at first it annoyed Tai, since he felt that his mother was taking his friend away from him, he grew to appreciate it. He liked that they were close, it had always made him like Mimi even more… _Wait,_ he thought. _How long have I liked Mimi? _He shuddered at the idea that he may have always had feelings for her, and yet it was only now that he had expressed them. He snapped out of his thoughts and focussed on the blunt conversation the two women were having.

'You're not on your own, you know,' Mimi pointed out. Yuuko shifted in her bed and raised a weak hand to her face to wipe away the tear that had fallen. 'Here, let me.' Mimi took a tissue and blotted Yuuko's cheek.

'I feel lonely, Mimi,' she said quietly. 'It's hard to understand if you don't have it.'

Tai's eyes widened and he froze in a moment of realisation. He listened to Mimi speak.

'I know. It feels like you don't really know yourself. Like, one day you can be happy and excited, and wanting to take on the world, and the next you feel like… killing yourself. It's the loneliest feeling, because no one really gets it. You know there's something not right, and yet it's too difficult to explain it to someone who can't possibly understand. When you're in a good mood, you don't want to go to sleep at night, because you know you might wake up without a desire to live anymore. Not that you can sleep when you feel like that; your mind races to the point of crying, and it won't shut down. And when you're low, you feel like you could sleep for days. And when you're at your lowest point… You just want to sleep forever.'

Yuuko looked at Mimi in surprise. 'How do you know that?'

Tai stared at Mimi, who sat with a sad smile on her face, and remembered the outburst in the park when she had seemed fine the day before. He remembered recognising the brand name on the pills he had picked up from her apartment. He remembered the days she spent crying, followed by the days she would be up and dressed at seven in the morning, wanting to be busy. He had known her for almost twenty years and yet he found himself wondering if he knew her at all. _How could I have not noticed?_ He watched as he opened her mouth, then answered the question for her.

'Because you have it, too.'

Mimi turned to him and nodded slowly. He continued.

'Then why are you not like this?' he pointed to Yuuko, who was struggling to stay awake.

'I have been,' Mimi replied. 'I've been where your mom is before. But it's painful for me to think about and sometimes I'm a little embarrassed about it. And I didn't want to tell any of you because I didn't want your pity, so after a lot of persuasion from my dad, I spoke to someone who knew what they were doing. I didn't go too deeply into it, just spoke about my mother and stuff, but just knowing that someone was there and was willing to listen did me the world of good. I haven't been to therapy since I got back here, obviously, which is probably why I've been feeling a bit weird, but my pills make sure I don't feel like I can't cope. It never gets this far anymore.' She nodded in Yuuko's direction. 'That day I told you about my ex in the park? The fact that you were there and you listened to me meant the world to me. You saved me from dropping even lower, and the most amazing thing is that you had no idea what you were doing.'

'You mean you…?' he paused, not wanting to ask Mimi what she did to herself, the idea hurting him.

'Yeah.' She felt her eyes well up, swallowed and turned back to his mother. 'But the point I'm trying to make here is that it's not always going to be this way,' she whispered, smiling at Yuuko. 'You can get better. You _will_ get better. I know it sucks that you will probably have to take meds for the rest of your life, and you'll never feel completely right, but if you just let people help you, you'll know what it's like to feel almost _normal._ And that's something you appreciate when you suffer the way we do. People who don't understand take their average moods for granted.' She winked at the two of them and sighed. 'It'll be hard for you. But you have people who care.'

Yuuko looked at Mimi and did something amazing. She smiled. Taking her hand in both of hers, she whispered to her.

'Thank you, Mimi.' And with that, she shut her eyes and gave in to her sedation. Mimi gently let go of her hand and walked over to Tai, putting her arm around him.

'She'll be ok,' she said. 'She just needs a bit of help.' Tai wrapped both of his arms around Mimi and kissed her head.

'I know,' he replied. Tai turned to his mother and planted a kiss on her cheek. 'I love you, mom,' he whispered. He took Mimi's hand and turned to leave. 'Oh, and Meems?'

'Hmm?'

'Just for the record, you'll never be alone either. I love you, and you'll always have me, I promise.'

'I know.' She smiled sadly. 'And I love you too.'

* * *

**Wow, I really struggled to write this chapter. I completely understand that everyone with any kind of mental illness experiences different symptoms, but I just wrote about a few of my own experiences with Bipolar Disorder, so please don't take this as being completely accurate. Let me just point out that if you suffer from anything yourself, you are not alone. There will always be someone willing to listen, someone who cares. If you have overcome any of your problems, then I am proud of you. Keep going, things will get better. And although it probably means very little coming from a complete stranger, I love you, and my private messaging is always open if you feel as though you need to talk to anyone. Thank you very much for reading.**


	16. Chapter 16 - Being There

**Hellooo :) Ahh! I've made a bit of a balls-up, XoreandoX reminded me that Mimi is younger than Tai, as is Izzy, but the fact completely slipped my mind, and I am a little bit of a tit. So we shall go on as if everything is normal *whistles and twiddles thumbs* and I hope no one minds too much. My bad, sorry folks! Thanks for the review, ****XoreandoX** :) And also thanks to shir .pinhas .1, who is a pretty damn awesome reviewer! :P Much love to you! Hope you enjoy this chapter, folks. :)

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN – Being There**

Matt woke to find himself in one of Mimi's spare bedrooms with Kari standing over him with painkillers and a glass of water. He winced as he looked up at her.

'You know me too well, Miss Kamiya,' he groaned, taking them from her.

'Better than you know yourself, Mr Ishida,' she replied quietly. 'You should probably get up. TK's talking to Tai in the kitchen, but I think he'd prefer to speak to you.'

Matt nodded, immediately regretting this action when his head pounded violently, and sat up. He swallowed the pills Kari had given him and washed them down with a mouthful of water, amused that his mouth could be so dry _without_ the drug he was once so fond of. Glancing up at the pale woman in front of him, he found himself wondering if the reason that she looked so sick was because of the stress of the incident involving her mother, or because she had spent an unenviable amount of time in the bathroom, being the victim of her own morning sickness. Either way, she looked weak, vulnerable, and Matt couldn't bear it. He got up slowly and put his arms around her. She leaned on him and wrapped her arms around his waist, allowing her anxiety and frustration to be released in the form of hot, salty tears.

'I don't know what to do, Matt,' she wept. He looked at the wall ahead and rocked on his feet slightly as he held her, a little angry at himself for not knowing what to do with a crying woman. _Twenty nine fucking years old and I don't have a clue. _He thought about how Tai had dealt with Mimi when she needed him and felt a pang of envy and confusion. _How does he manage it? _He thought. Matt's mind wandered back to when Mimi had spent a lot of time on the phone to him after her break up with Michael, and he took comfort in the fact that he had made her feel better. He _was _capable of this.

'You'll be ok, Kar,' he said, hushing her sobs. 'Everything's gonna be ok. Look at it this way, your mom's gonna get the right help now, and she can focus on getting better. Your friends love you, your boyfriend and brother are going to look after you no matter what, you have an awesome brother-in-law,' he winked and smirked at his own arrogance, '- and on top of that, in a few months you're gonna be a mother. That's amazing,' he said quietly, pulling away to smile at her. She nodded at wiped her sore eyes.

'Thank you,' she whispered. He smiled at her and shrugged.

'No problem,' he said casually. 'I'd better go and see if Tai's ok before TK starts to think you finally chose the better looking brother.'

'Don't wind him up.' Kari giggled and threw a cushion at him, narrowly missing him as he dodged quickly out of the room. When she was alone she sighed deeply. Matt was right. She would be fine. Her mom would be fine. Everything was going to be ok. She sniffed and wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve once again. Sitting on the bed, she thanked her lucky stars her mother hadn't succeeded in her suicide bid, and she made a silent promise to herself. _I am going to be there for her the way she has always been there for me when I was growing up. I owe it to her._

* * *

Matt walked into the kitchen to find Tai sitting on one of Mimi's ridiculous barstools with his head in his hands, with TK sitting opposite him, being of no comfort at all.

'All I'm saying is that it really could be a lot worse,' he said.

'Go away, TK,' grunted Tai, not lifting his head.

'Hey.' Matt's voice sounded from the doorway. 'Less of the sass towards my baby bro please.' He smirked slightly, then remembered that Tai was in no mood for jokes and perched on a stool next to him. He nodded at TK, excusing him from the room and exhaled noisily. 'Listen, I'll tell you what I've told your sister. TK could have worded it a little more sensitively, but ultimately he's right. Your mom's gonna get treatment and help now, she's going to get better. Everything's going to be fine.'

'Is it?' mumbled Tai. He lifted his head to look his best friend in the eye and shook his head in exasperation. 'Tell me, Yamato, have you ever known someone… but not really _known_ them? And then realised and wondered if you even know them at all?' Matt looked at Tai, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

'Tai, what _are_ you talking about?'

'Mimi.'

'What about her? Has she said something?'

'No. But that's just it. She doesn't say anything. At least, she doesn't talk to me. She _hasn't _talked to me.' He rubbed his tired eyes and put his head on the table. Still confused, Matt opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. Tai continued. 'So much has happened to her, so much is _still _fucking happening to her, and I've literally only just noticed. You remember how you said you thought you were the worst friend in the world when she talked about how shitty her life was in America? That can't be true, because that title has my name written all over it.'

'Except… you can't be the worst friend in the world because you're not friends anymore, ya get me?' Matt winked and nudged Tai's arm.

'That's not making me feel better, Matt.'

'Alright, I'm sorry. Look, she's always been a very private person. So how about this… when you think she's feeling down, ask her if she'd like to talk about it instead of waiting for her to come to you. If she wants to talk, then great. If she doesn't, then that's her choice and we should respect that. She loves you Tai. She's not angry with you for not knowing, so don't beat yourself up over it.'

'Did you know?'

'Know what?'

'It doesn't matter.' Tai took a little comfort in the fact that Matt didn't know; because if she hadn't told the person who had listened to her ranting all the time, then she can't have kept it from Tai just because she didn't trust him. It was just a personal issue she wanted to deal with herself. Knowing that Matt was right, _as fucking usual_, he forced a smile and turned to him. 'Thanks, dude. Is Kari ok?'

'Yeah, she's fine. She was a little upset, but SuperMatt saved the day,' he replied, smirking.

'Christ, you are a walking cliché, you know that?'

'Yeah I know, but I love it.' Matt's mind suddenly wandered to the night before, and the girl his attention was spent on for most of the night. Leaving Tai to his thoughts for a moment, he wandered over to the kitchen sink and looked for the girl's number in his phone. He silently prayed that he'd saved it, something that disturbed him slightly, since he very rarely wanted to keep the numbers he took, and he _never_ called them. _Ahh,_ he thought._ Clo._ Although he was confident that she had liked him - girls always did, after all – he found that he was too nervous to call, since it was so early. So gathering whatever dignity he felt he was still holding, he tapped out a quick text message.

_Hey beautiful, do u remember me? We hooked up at the party last night. Matt x_

He stared at the message in disgust. _Do you remember me? DO YOU REMEMBER ME?_ He hesitated for a second, embarrassed at his ridiculous choice of words, then realising it was probably the best he could do, he tapped the send button. _Of course she'll remember me,_ he thought. _I'm Matt fucking Ishida, they always remember me._ Somehow though, his arrogance wasn't even enough to convince himself, and he stood playing with his phone for a few minutes before he heard a beep.

_How could I 4get? ;) what happened? Clo x_

Matt smiled. He hated himself for texting back so quickly, but for the first time in his life he couldn't help it. He actually wanted to.

_There was a family emergency. U wanna hang out? X_

'Aye aye, what's this?' Tai stood behind Matt, who was facing the window above the sink, and attempted to look over his shoulder. Matt dodged quickly, holding his phone to his chest. 'What are we hiding, huh?'

'Nothing,' Matt replied hurriedly, backing away from his friend, who was now smirking.

'I see.' Tai turned away, still grinning, when he heard Matt's phone beep once more. He glanced over his shoulder to see him smiling at whatever was on the screen, and stifled a laugh.

_Oh dear. Hope everything's ok. Sure, McD's in ten mins? I'm feeling some good old hangover food lol! X_

Grabbing his coat, Matt headed for the door.

'Going somewhere?' Tai watched as his friend halted in the doorway. He crossed his arms and smirked, finding amusement from his usually-confident and cocky friend feeling awkward.

'Uh, yeah. The guys need me. Band practice.'

'Hmm.' Tai nodded sarcastically. 'Have fun, then. Oh and… thanks. For being there, you know.'

'Yeah, sure. See ya.' And with that, Matt hurried from the room, cursing himself for being so damn eager.

* * *

Kari was sitting on the bed she had forced Matt to get out of earlier, when Tai entered the room.

'Hey.' He sat next her and twiddled his thumbs in his lap. 'How're you feeling?'

'Alright,' she replied simply. 'Have you spoken to Matt?'

'Yeah. Apparently he told me what he told you.'

'That everything would be ok?'

'Something along those lines. I hate to admit it Kar, because I feel like we should be really depressed about Mom, but I think he might be right.'

Kari sighed and looked at her brother. 'Me too.'

'I mean, surely things can't get worse.'

'Don't tempt fate, Tai,' Kari giggled quietly and nudged him. He smiled and bowed his head, looking at his hands. Kari, desperate to pick up the mood a little, changed the subject. 'So, you and Mimi, eh?'

Tai smiled as he lifted his head and sighed deeply. 'Yeah.'

'You really like her, huh.'

'I love her Kari.'

'Already?'

'No. I've loved her for a long time. But it's only just hit me. I don't know how I've managed to deny it to myself for so long.'

'Because you were friends. And you didn't want to ruin what you had. Believe me, TK and I went through the exact same feelings. It was scary at first, not knowing if it would destroy the friendship we'd built over years, but then we realised that life is about taking risks. How do we know if something works if we don't try it? I'm glad we took that risk; it was so totally worth it.' Kari grinned at Tai, who was looking at her with a smile on his face like he was in deep thought.

'You're too philosophical for your own good, you know that?'

Kari shrugged. 'You know I'm right.'

Tai put his arm around her and sighed. 'Yeah, you are.'

'And just so you know; if she takes you away from me I'll cause a scene bigger than you can imagine.' Kari leaned against him and giggled. Laughing, Tai rested his head on hers.

'You needn't worry. You're my baby sister; you'll always come first. I don't say it much, but I love you more than anything in the world, and no one will _ever_ be able to take that away.'

'I love you too. And you needn't worry either; I won't tell anyone my brother's a soft bastard at heart.' She smiled at him before the siblings were startled by the sound of Tai's phone ringing. Pulling it out of his pocket, he stared at the name on the screen. _Mimi._ He took his arm away from Kari and answered the call.

'Hey… What's the matter?' Tai got up and turned his back to Kari. She stared at him, trying to work out the conversation. 'Don't you have your car? Ok, I'll be right over.' He ended the call and looked back at his sister. 'Mimi's car's fucked; I'm gonna go pick her up from Yolei's.'

Kari nodded and walked up to Tai, who stood a little less than a foot taller than her, and wrapped her arms around his waist, finding comfort in the familiar smell of his shirt. Tai hugged her close, then pulled away, smiling.

'What was that for?' he asked.

'For always being there,' she replied.

* * *

Mimi stood on the balcony smoking. She was ashamed of herself; she had been doing so well, but she had cracked and wasted all of her efforts to keep her cravings at bay. She had left the house early that morning – before the others had awoken – with the intention of going for a drive to clear her head. She had left a note for Tai, who had fallen asleep on the couch, informing him that she would be back before twelve so that he didn't worry too much about her. After driving for half an hour, she decided to drop in on Yolei and Ken, her old friends and fellow Digidestined. She had spotted them at the party the night before, but hadn't really had chance to catch up, and they had left early anyway for an early night. Thinking about how much their lives had changed, Mimi took a drag of her cigarette and exhaled deeply.

'Those things will kill you, you know.' Yolei appeared on the balcony, nodding in Mimi's direction. Mimi hastily put out her cigarette and turned to her.

'No, no, no, you're not supposed to be out here,' she said quickly, pointing at Yolei's middle. Yolei rubbed her swollen tummy and smiled, backing away.

'How is it you think more of the health of me and the little one than your own?'

'He's an innocent!' Mimi declared, giggling.

'So are you,' replied Yolei.

'You'd be surprised,' said Mimi, shrugging.

'Did you call Tai?'

'Yeah, he's coming to pick me up. God, that car's been nothing but a pain in the ass since I got it.'

'So why do you still have it?' asked Yolei, smirking.

'Because it's so pretty,' sighed Mimi.

'Looks aren't everything, sweetie.' Yolei crossed her arms over her large bump and groaned. 'What's up, Meems?'

Mimi shook her head casually and smiled. 'Nothing.'

'Ok, if you're sure.'

'I'm sure. Yolei, I'm gonna go wait outside for Tai, thanks for having me round, it's been so lovely catching up.' Leaning to give the purple-haired woman a hug, she made a silent promise to make more time for her. They hadn't always been particularly close, but she had really enjoyed her company, and was extremely happy for her. Yolei had settled down with Ken, her childhood crush and was expecting her first child with him very soon. She seemed relaxed and content, and Mimi was glad.

'Anytime, hon. We'll have to go get coffee some time.'

'Sounds good to me,' replied Mimi. 'Drop me a text when you're free and we'll plan something. Although it looks to me like you should be putting your feet up at this point.'

'I think he's settled in here for a little while yet,' said Yolei, patting her bump proudly. Embracing her one last time, Mimi told her to give Ken a hug when he woke, as he was sleeping in due to being up for most of the night working, and left the apartment.

She stood outside looking at her poor broken-down car and asking herself why bad things happen to good people, and remembered the email she had received that same morning, the one that had made her feel sick. Pulling out her phone, she opened and re-read it.

_Hey Meems. I know this is a little out of the blue, but I'm in Odaiba on business all of next week. My flight leaves early tomorrow morning, so what do you say you make some time for an old friend? We can talk about old times, whatever you want. Let me know._

Mimi looked away from the email, not wanting to be reminded of who the sender was. _Old friend?_ _Who was he kidding?_ _And what were the fucking chances of him landing business in Odaiba? _Pulling herself together, she looked back at the sender and felt like gagging all over again.

_Michael._

**Boooring chapter! Not too keen on this one, though I did like Tai and Kari's communication. I love those two, their sibling relationship is just adorable. It was a bit of a rambling chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Thank you for reading.**


	17. Chapter 17 - Relationship Status

**This chapter is quite a bit longer than the others, and it's not written out very well, especially towards the end, but I really hope you get the gist and that you enjoy it :)**

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – Relationship Status**

Mimi sat with Tai, watching a TV movie with a bowl of popcorn. The two remained silent, Mimi looking at the TV but not watching it, since her mind was preoccupied by the thought of seeing her horrible ex again, and Tai was also looking but not watching, instead wondering what was bothering Mimi. Several minutes of silence passed before Tai could no longer bear it.

'What's the matter?'

'Nothing,' she lied. 'Why?'

'You're quiet tonight. Just wondering if something was bothering you.'

'No, I'm fine.' She paused for a moment, wondering if she should tell him about Michael's request to see her, then thought better of it. _I'm not going to agree to see him anyway, _she thought,_ it's not important._ 'Just worried about you, that's all.' She felt like the worst human being in the world for lying to him, but she figured that if he knew he would probably panic or freak out, and it just wasn't worth it.

'I'm ok,' he said. 'I'm a big boy; you don't need to worry about me.'

'I know,' she replied quietly. 'But just for the record, it's not _un-manly_ to talk about things that bother you, you know. And I'm here if you need to.' She smiled and closed her eyes as Tai planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

'Un-manly?'

'Best adjective I could come up with at short notice,' she giggled, blushing. Tai laughed. It wasn't his usual loud, obnoxious laugh. It was quieter, softer, full of affection.

'It's a good adjective, I like it,' he said, grinning. 'Thanks, Meems.'

'No problem,' she replied, tapping his nose. 'That's what I'm here for. Anyway, you. It's late, get yourself to bed.'

'Ok, three things. One; I am never _told_ to do anything. Two; if I go to bed, you're coming with me, since I think we're past sleeping in separate rooms now, and three; late? What do you think I am, eighty six? It's seven thirty, damn it!' He laughed at her directness.

'Ok, three things. One; you have never been _told_ to do anything until _now_. Two; I believe it's common courtesy to actually _invite_ a woman to bed when she's in your home, rather than demanding it, and three; I don't care that you're not eighty six, you have work in the morning.' She crossed her arms and looked at him with an expression that said _I win._ 'Two can play at that game, mister.'

'For your information, I'm not going in tomorrow because I won't be able to concentrate anyway, so your argument is invalid. And I shouldn't need to invite you to bed; you should know already that I'd like nothing more.'

Mimi dropped the smug expression she was wearing and let a shy smile creep onto her face.

'Well aren't you just the master of romance.' She rolled her eyes as Tai shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips. Mimi bit down on her own lip, suddenly overtaken by a certain desire. She wasn't sure what it was about him that did it, but she knew that she found his charm and occasional cockiness to be a turn on for her, not forgetting his sense of humour. Tai noticed that she was wrapping a long strand of her dark hair round and round her finger, and he knew why. It was a habit Mimi had when she was nervous. He lowered his gaze to her lip, which she was still biting down on, giving the game away. Tai's breath hitched as he looked her in the eye.

'You really shouldn't do that,' he said, his voice low, taking her hand away from her face, her curl bouncing free from her finger. She sat still, unable to take her eyes off his, her breathing quickening and her hands shaking.

'Why?' she whispered, feeling her cheeks redden. Tai ignored her question, tracing his thumb along the side of her face, making her shiver, and wondering if she could hear his heart pounding violently inside his chest. He put his forehead near hers and closed his eyes, attempting to control his breathing pattern.

'You have no idea what you do to me,' he said quietly, his deep voice making Mimi's insides crawl with a twisted kind of pleasure.

Mimi closed her eyes too, enjoying the warmth he was radiating. 'Maybe I do,' she breathed. She tilted her head slightly and gently brushed her lips against his before leaning into him, holding the front of his shirt and allowing him to put his hand on her hair, kissing him deeply. It was a passionate kiss, but slow and soft, full of emotion and affection, and Mimi wasn't used to being treated that way. Men had always treated her like they had a right to take what they wanted from her, and Mimi had obliged in attempts to be a good girlfriend. This kiss was different, it was mutual and respectful, and she loved the way Tai made her feel. Loved, admired, _protected._ She found herself thinking about everything that attracted her to him. His beautiful eyes, that big mess of dark hair, his tall lean figure, his protective arms, his humour, his loud laugh, and his strong heart. A heart with so much to give, and she felt as though he was giving it all to her. It only made her love him more. She snapped out of her thoughts when his free hand moved to her waist, lifting her top and exposing her skin, and she responded by undoing a few buttons on his shirt. He pulled away suddenly, startling Mimi.

'What is it, did I do something wrong?' she asked, panic rising inside her.

He shook his head and smiled as he looked at her. 'I just need to be sure.'

'Of what?'

'I need to know that you really want to do this. I never want you to feel pressured into anything.'

Mimi sighed with relief, and giggled quietly.

'I honestly…' she pulled him back to her. 'Really, really want to do this.'

'You don't think it's too soon?' Tai kissed her gently and moved a strand of hair away from her face.

'I've wanted this for so long, Tai,' she whispered. 'So no, I don't. In fact, it's about time.'

Tai grinned and gave her a long, tender kiss, then held out his hand for her. Taking it, Mimi followed him to his bedroom, both excited and nervous in the knowledge that she was about to have him all to herself for the first time. _Who'd have thought?_ She wondered. _Despite everything that's happened, this man is all I need to be happy. How did I get so lucky?_

* * *

Matt smirked as he fiddled under the hood of Mimi's car. _Typical Mimi,_ he thought. _A flat battery and she acts like the whole car's permanently fucked._

'What's so funny?' asked TK, joining his brother's side.

'Flat battery.'

'How's that funny?'

'If you'd heard the way she was ranting and raving, you'd understand.' Matt laughed. 'Here, pass me the jump leads.'

TK rummaged around in the trunk of his car and passed his brother the cables, watched as it was hooked up, and started his car at Matt's signal. After seeing that Mimi's car was up and running, he let out a sigh of relief. He was tired and all he wanted to do was get home to his girlfriend, to present to her the surprise he had planned. 'Are we done here?' he asked hopefully.

'Yeah I should think so,' replied Matt. 'Thanks bro.'

'Anytime. I take it you're driving Mimi's car back to Tai's place?'

'Yeah.'

'So I guess you'll be wanting me to follow you so you're not stranded there,' TK laughed.

'If you don't mind.'

'Course not.' TK put on his seatbelt and watched as Matt climbed into Mimi's Audi and pulled out his phone. Smiling at whatever was on the screen, he looked to be typing out a message before returning it to his pocket. TK grinned. It was a girl, he knew, for he'd never seen his brother act so coy, and he would have been slightly worried if it had been one of the guys making him so soppy. He pondered about how complicated Matt's love life had always been, and how he had been pretty useless at helping him plan Kari's surprise and a thought crossed his mind. _He deserves this. This will be good for him._

Matt looked up to see TK smirking in his direction. 'The fuck's he smiling at?' he mumbled to himself, offering a crooked half-smile in return. Driving back to Tai's, he thought about how quickly things were changing. Mimi and Tai were officially an item, TK and Kari were expecting their first child, as were Yolei and Ken, and word on the street was that Sora had actually taken a liking to Davis Motomiya after the events of the party, and was planning to see him more often. But even with the huge news of the new baby that had somehow become common knowledge _already _(Kari suspected TK of blabbing in his excitement), and two of their own falling for each other after twenty-odd years, the thing that had the Digidestined gossiping amongst themselves was the news that their very own Yamato, famous among them for being somewhat of a womaniser, was actually interested in a girl. And not just for sex. He had neither confirmed nor denied the rumours circulating between their close-knit group, as he enjoyed the speculation surrounding him and the mystery girl they all wanted to meet. Smirking, he realised that he had reached his destination. Parking Mimi's car, he made his way to Tai's apartment to let her know that he'd sorted it. Stopping at the door, he thought carefully. Having been friends with Tai for so long, he had made a habit of letting himself in whenever he felt like it, helping himself to a beer and joining Tai, who was usually sprawled on the sofa playing a violent video game. Today though, he hesitated, assuming that he and Mimi might want some time alone given their recent union and he raised his hand to knock. Before his fist had time to touch the door however, he was stopped by a sound coming from behind it. He heard a squeal and Mimi's unmistakeable giggle, before hearing a low moan no doubt coming from Tai in his ecstasy. Smirking knowingly, Matt lowered his hand and turned to leave, vowing to text Mimi about her car when he got home.

'That was quick,' said TK as Matt climbed into the passenger seat of his car.

'I think they were _busy,_' he replied, grimacing at his brother.

TK was silent for a moment, then realising what Matt was getting at, screwed up his nose. 'Lovely,' he replied sarcastically.

'Hey, at least no one walked in on them.'

'Hey! That was one time. And we shall never speak of it again,' said TK, cringing at the memory.

'Whatever you say, dude.'

The drive to Matt's apartment was uneventful, and the brothers had passed the time by listening to music. Matt had been pleasantly surprised to discover that the CD in TK's player was one of his own, the first album he and his band had released a couple of years previously. He felt a twinge of satisfaction that TK still listened to it, not to mention the pride he felt when he saw that he knew all of the words, singing under his breath, unaware that Matt was watching him from the corner of his eye. Approaching the parking lot, Matt offered his brother a smile as he climbed out.

'Thanks for the ride,' he said casually.

'No problem.'

Matt watched as TK left, then walked over to his own car. Texting Mimi like he told himself he would, he sat in the driver's seat. Tapping 'send', he smiled, opened a different contact and typed another message.

_On my way x_

Turning his key in the ignition, he checked his hair in the rear view mirror and smiled cockily at his reflection. He looked at the seat next to him and saw the bag he had put there earlier after he had returned home from his 'date' and received a text from Clo inviting him to stay the night. _Twice in one day,_ he thought to himself, grinning. Yes, he and his new interest had moved rather quickly, but there was no doubt in Matt's mind that she was different. It had been what, a day? And already he could sense that there was something about her, besides her bedroom skills, that drew him to her. He knew it was early, he didn't know if things would continue to be awesome, but he knew one thing. He was not going to treat this one like the others before her.

* * *

Mimi sat up, holding the covers up to her chest and reached for her phone. She saw that she had an unread text message and an email. Reading the text, she turned to look at Tai, who was lying with his hands behind his head, watching her closely with a small smile on his face.

'Oh god,' she said putting her hand to her head.

'What is it?' Tai sat up and moved closer to her.

'Look,' she replied, handing him the phone.

_I came by earlier to tell you ive sorted your car, it's parked next to Tai's and that you can pay me in kindness, but I think u were a little 'busy'. Didn't wanna crash the party, have fun guys ;) x_

Tai finished reading the message and handed the phone back to Mimi, laughing loudly.

'It's so not funny,' she said in exasperation.

'It kind of is,' Tai replied as he snorted, causing him to burst into fresh peals of laughter.

'Cut it out!' Mimi reached for a pillow and threw it in Tai's direction. His laughter subsided and still giggling slightly, he put his arms around her, pulling her close.

'Aw, I'm sorry,' he said, still smiling. 'But it's really not that bad. I've had to listen to him banging before, back when we shared an apartment. And you've experienced it first-hand.' He dodged quickly to avoid the inevitable swing Mimi aimed at him, uncontrollable laughter preventing him from breathing. Mimi glared at him for a few seconds, then allowed herself to give in to the smile that was playing on her lips.

'You're an idiot, you know that? And anyway, isn't that something you should be jealous of?' she crossed her arms over the covers and pouted.

'Maybe I was,' he admitted. 'But now I have you all to myself, and the past isn't important anymore.' He kissed her softly on her lips, brushing his thumb on her cheek. He sighed in content. 'Hmm.'

'What?' Mimi looked at him, a confused smile spreading across her face.

'Now I understand what he was talking about,' Tai moved quickly again as Mimi gasped.

'You are an asshole, Tai Kamiya,' she exclaimed.

'Yeah but you love me for it,' he replied confidently.

'Hmm. And you should be thankful that I do, or you'd be missing some teeth by now.' She huffed and turned her back to him.

'Ooh, feisty Mimi's here. I like her,' he said, moving back to her and wrapping his arms around her. 'Seriously though. You're amazing. And I'm a lucky man.' He rested his chin on her shoulder and turned her slightly to kiss her cheek. 'I love you.' He felt Mimi soften at his words and she turned to face him. She dropped her pout and smiled sweetly at him.

'I love you too.'

'Right, I'm gonna go shower. Always room for one more,' he winked and Mimi giggled.

'You've had your fix for one night. I know I'm pretty addictive, but seriously. You've already had yourself some sugar; you don't wanna fill yourself up.' She waved her hand in mock arrogance, watching as Tai left the room and peered back around the door at her.

'Actually, I was thinking of filling_ you_ up,' he winked, and laughed as Mimi inhaled loudly.

'Tai!' She stood up quickly, still holding the sheets to hide her modesty.

'And on that note.' Tai left quickly and Mimi sat back down on the bed. She waited until she heard the pattering of the shower and opened the email she had received during her _amazing_ session with Tai. She became distracted for a moment, feeling incredibly satisfied, then turned her attention back to the email. She felt her heart drop and frowned as she read it.

_Since you haven't replied, I'm going to assume you've been too busy to read your emails, what with all the fun you must be having! As I said earlier, I'll be landing tomorrow, and I'll be making a stop at your house (your father gave me your address when I said it would be nice to catch up with you). I'm not taking no for an answer, so make sure the kettle's on! ;)_

_Michael_

'Oh my god.' Mimi flopped back onto the bed, covering her eyes with her arm. 'Oh no.'

* * *

Matt pulled up outside Clo's house and approached the door. Knocking gingerly, he found himself to be shaking with nerves. 'Come on, Matt,' he said quietly to himself. 'Pull yourself together.'

'Talking to yourself again?' Matt looked up in the direction of the voice and saw Clo leaning from her bedroom window, grinning. 'Sure you're not going mad?'

'Pretty sure,' replied Matt, cursing himself silently.

'I'll be right down,' the blonde giggled, closing the window. A few seconds later, the door opened and Matt found himself looking her up and down. She was wearing a baggy sports t-shirt, and her pale blonde hair was on top of her head in a messy bun. She was clearly ready for bed, since her pretty face was makeup free, but Matt was astounded. He had always assumed girls to be pretty boring in the looks department when they weren't fully made up, with the exception of Mimi, Sora and Kari (since he'd grown up with them and thought them all to be very attractive girls anyway), but this girl was stunning. She had big beautiful green eyes, full lips and flawless skin with pretty rosy cheeks. The fact that she was confident enough to open the door to the guy she liked dressed down and with no makeup and messy hair only made Matt like her more. She didn't need to make an effort anyway; Matt felt his heart start beating faster at the sight of her, and he wondered how the hell she had managed to have such a strong effect on him in such a short time.

'You coming in?'

'Uh… yeah.' Matt stepped inside and Clo shut the door behind him. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, standing on her tip toes to kiss his neck. Matt closed his eyes, confused at his feelings and wondering what it was about her that drew him in so damn much. He turned around and looked at her, putting his hands on her hips, bending his head to kiss her long and hard. She lifted her arms to his neck and entwined her fingers in his hair as he lifted her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around him. Placing her on a table in the hallway and standing between her legs he groaned as he bit her neck gently between kisses, then pulled away abruptly. Clo straightened, alarmed.

'What is it, what's wrong?'

'Nothing. Um… can we talk?' Matt waved his hand toward the living room, gesturing for her to lead the way.

'Oh god, is this over already? It's hardly even had a chance to start!'

'No! No, nothing like that,' he said, shaking his head and following her through. He sat on the black sofa next to the pretty blonde and sighed. 'I know we've only known each other for the shortest time, so this might seem insane to you. And feel free to shut me up at any point, but I really think we have some potential.'

'Potential for what?' She looked at him in confusion, her forehead wrinkling into a slight frown.

'To be good together.' Matt stared at her and the two sat in silence for a moment before she spoke up.

'But… You're Matt Ishida.'

'Well spotted.' He smirked slightly.

'Aren't you supposed to like, play me or something?'

Matt looked at her as if she was an alien, his mouth half open. 'Do you _want _me to play you?' He felt himself almost drown in worry and frustration. This girl already knew who he was, she had connected his name to his reputation, and suddenly he felt as though his name was a dirty word. He realised that he wanted rid of his reputation, if only so that Clo would trust that he wouldn't use her, and then another thought crossed his mind. _What if that was the only reason she wanted me? What if she's just as experienced at my game?_

'No. I mean, when I saw you at the party, I didn't think you'd look twice at me anyway so I just kind of resigned myself to the idea that it would only be sex. But it was ok, that was what I wanted. My reputation isn't exactly squeaky clean either, you know.'

'And now?'

'And now…' she leaned closer to him and kissed him gently. 'Now I think you might be right. It's early, _very_ early. But maybe we have something… You're different. I mean, we're the same, casual sex and all, but something about you makes me want to be different. Is that weird?'

Matt shifted uncomfortably. 'No. I feel like that, too. What are you doing to me?'

'What do you mean?'

'Like, why do I feel like I actually want to be _decent_ for once?'

Clo giggled and pulled him close by the front of his shirt. 'Because you've met your match.'

Matt looked her in the eye as realisation washed over him. She was right. He was intrigued by her because she was the same. Because she related to him in ways that no other girl ever had. Because for once, he knew he had to try and hold on to her the same way the girls before her had tried to hold onto him. He nodded slowly and repeated her words.

'Because I've met my match.'

* * *

Kari flicked through the channels on the TV absentmindedly, occasionally glancing at the clock and counting down the minutes until TK arrived home. He said he'd be home no later than eight, but she was so painfully bored that every minute felt like another hour. After what seemed like an eternity, she heard the door open and ran to TK, throwing her arms around him as if he had been to war.

'Easy, girl,' he said laughing, dropping his keys on the counter and returning her hug, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend and inhaling the sweet scent of her chocolate brown hair. He pulled away excitedly and passed her a coat. 'Put this on, I have a surprise for you,' he said brightly.

'And what's that?' she asked.

'Well it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now, would it?'

Kari blushed and smiled at him, loving him even more for his sweet little gestures. Putting on her coat, she linked her arm with his and followed him out of the door. They walked in silence for a while, and Kari noticed that every time she glanced at TK, he looked nervous and jumpy. She ignored it, knowing that he wasn't really one to talk about anything that was on his mind anyway, and she knew that he was aware that she was a good listener if he ever did need to talk. She tightened her grip on his arm in an attempt to make him feel nearer to her and looked closely at him.

'Where are we going?' she asked innocently.

TK looked down into her big brown eyes and smiled, suddenly relaxing and letting his nerves leave him… for the most part. 'You'll see, baby.'

The couple approached Odaiba High School and TK looked around before leading Kari around the back of the building.

'What-' Kari started, but TK raised his hand to silence her. She hushed immediately, frowning in confusion. The tall blonde man approached an open window and climbed in, holding out his hand to help Kari do the same.

'Come on.' He lead her out into the empty corridor lined with lockers and took both of her hands in his, leaning on the desk the 'naughty' kids used to sit at when they'd been thrown out of class, surprised it was still there. 'You know why we're here?'

'Does this look like the face of someone who knows?'

'This is the place we shared our first kiss.'

Kari softened, then realised the severity of what they were doing. 'TK, are you insane? You're gonna get us arrested! And how was that window even open?' she hissed.

'Relax, there's no one here. And I had a little help…'

'Kariiiii!' A creature flew at Kari, almost knocking her over before coming to rest on her head, the way he used to do to TK back when they were kids.

'Patamon?' Kari stared in surprise at the little digimon, amazed that he was here and wondering how long he'd been in the real world, then resting her gaze on TK, who was laughing contently. 'What on earth… do the others know he's here?'

TK shook his head. 'He snuck in to open the window,' he replied proudly.

'I can see that… but when? It's Sunday, no one's been here today, surely?' Kari paused and lifted Patamon off her head to look at him. 'Unless… have you been here since Friday?' The small digimon nodded enthusiastically and Kari turned back to TK. 'TK! You left him here all weekend?'

'Hey, he manages by himself alright in the Digital World, and besides, he was _more_ than willing to help out.'

'With what? Why are we even here?' Kari raised one eyebrow.

'I told you, this is the place where we kissed for the first time.'

'And…?'

'Have you spoken to Gatomon recently at all?'

'Yeah, I spoke to her after I told you I was pregnant, I've never heard so many congratulations, why?' she frowned as TK picked up a tablet computer from the desk he was sitting on and handed it to her. She gasped as she saw a connection to the Digital World and the beautiful face of none other than…

'Gatomon!' Kari smiled happily, excited to see her partner.

'Hey Kari! Oh, and nice job, Patamon.' Gatomon winked at the camera, and when Kari turned to look at Patamon, she was sure she saw him blush. Turning back to the tablet she held in front of her face, she giggled.

'What's going on?' she asked.

'I just wanted to give you my congratulations,' she chirped.

Kari laughed. 'You already did. Multiple times.'

'Not for that.'

'Then what…' she lowered the screen to look at TK questioningly, only to see him on one knee in front of her, presenting to her the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen. 'Oh my god…'

TK took a deep breath. _It's now or never Takeru,_ he thought.

'I know being here probably seems weird to you, but I thought it was perfect, since this corridor holds so many memories for us. It's like there are two points; the first is right here eleven years ago, where we turned our friendship into something more, and the second is right here, right now. And the time in between those points has been the best time of my life, which is why it only seemed right that we come back to this exact spot.'

Kari stared at TK, her mouth half open, her eyes watering. He continued.

'I don't ever want that to end; you make me the happiest man in the world every single day and now you're blessing me with a child. You honestly never cease to amaze me, and I couldn't imagine my life without you in it. So, Hikari Kamiya, it is with great pride and copious amounts of nerves,-' he smiled anxiously and Kari giggled - 'that I ask you to be my wife.'

Kari stood rooted to the spot for a second then snapped out of her shock. She shivered in her excitement and abandoned her attempt to hold back the tears, letting them fall down her face freely.

'Yes,' she whispered.

* * *

**Holy crap I've been getting my knickers in a twist over this chapter because it's so difficult to explain how Matt's feeling about moving so bloody fast! But anyhooo... yay Takari! Ha I love those two :) Thank you for reading!**


	18. Chapter 18 - Ex Encounters

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – Ex Encounters **

Mimi sat in her kitchen alone. She had told a reluctant Tai that she wanted to come back to spend some time alone at home, and after making her promise several times that she would call at any point if she needed him, he relented and left for work. The previous day had been stressful for Mimi; she, Tai, Kari and TK had gone to visit Yuuko, who seemed to be responding well to her new medication, and perked up considerably at the happy news that TK and Kari were to be married and expecting a baby. The rest of the day was spent at Tai's, with him avoiding the phone after deciding that he couldn't face work (Mimi figured that he simply couldn't be bothered with work on top of other things going on), and the two watching movies and being generally intimate. It would have been a rather relaxing sort of day, had the source of Mimi's stress not been that her ex was insisting that he drop by to see her when he landed. She hadn't wanted to reply to him to make her excuses because she knew that where Michael was concerned, there were none. He wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. So she decided that she would just wait at home to see if he actually had the nerve to show up, feeling disgusted with herself for not telling Tai and not knowing if she was doing something horribly wrong. She did know, however, that if he discovered that the source of some of Mimi's insecurities was sniffing around her, it would not sit well with him. She didn't want to see his aggressive side, and was even more apprehensive about Matt finding out. He knew what this man did to her, and having known Matt for most of her life, she knew that his reaction would be even more explosive than Tai's, and Michael would definitely be on the receiving end of Yamato's famous temper. So she kept quiet to them, planning her meeting with her ex very carefully. She would make it very clear that she was in a relationship, inform him of exactly what he did to her and her self-esteem, let him know that she didn't want to see him anymore, then tell him to leave. And that would be her closure.

She fumbled in her bag to check the time on her phone, coming across the ultrasound picture Kari had given to her the day before. She smiled at it, the tiny person in the picture being the epitome of innocence, completely unaware of just how much he or she was loved. Placing the photo on the table in front of her, she looked at her phone. _10.50am._ Given the long flight, Mimi presumed that Michael had landed last night after leaving in the morning, and was anxiously waiting for the inevitable knock on the door. She sat biting her nails for another hour, making a mental note to get nail extensions when this ordeal was over, if not to make them look better then to reward herself for being brave and standing up to him. _If I can be brave,_ she thought nervously. She shook her head vigorously. _Of course I can. I can, I can, I can._ She snapped her head towards the hallway as a loud knock startled her. Shivering, she stood up, slowly making her way to the large front door and resting her hand on the handle. She took a deep breath and shakily opened it.

'Michael.'

'Mimi. Long time, no see.'

'Yeah.'

'Aren't you going to invite me in?'

Mimi nodded slowly and stepped back for him to enter. She watched as he strode confidently into the kitchen and she shut the door, leaning against it for a moment. She cracked the window next to it open slightly, though not enough to notice. She wasn't sure why she did it, maybe it was a subconscious action intended for her own protection, in case she needed to make a quick escape and he had locked the door, being overly worried about security ever since the break-in… Realising how paranoid she was being, since the man had never actually physically hurt her, she shook her head and approached the kitchen. Michael was sitting at the table, holding Kari's scan picture.

'New life. It's always beautiful, don't you think, Mimi?'

Mimi nodded. 'Yeah.'

He waved the picture at her. 'So who're the lucky couple? Friends of yours?'

'Yeah.' Mimi felt horribly awkward, but Michael seemed to be at ease in the silence that followed, not showing the slightest hint of discomfort.

'Tea.'

'Excuse me?'

'I'll have a cup of tea, if you're offering.' He shot a wicked smirk in Mimi's direction, and she couldn't help but remember that it was the same smirk he used to offer after a fat jibe or some other sly comment about her appearance. When she had opened the door to Michael, she had promised herself that she would make her point politely, because there really wasn't any reason to be rude. But suddenly she felt a flash of anger. _How dare he come into my house and demand hospitality after everything he put me through?_ She scratched her head and sat opposite him, crossing her arms.

'Actually, Michael, there's something I really want to say.'

Michael leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. 'Shoot.'

She took a deep breath and braced herself. 'You really shouldn't be here. In fact, I have no idea why you came at all, because if you thought I'd forgive you for the way you treated me, you were wrong. I _can't._'

'Mimi, I didn't come here to beg forgiveness, because I know I don't deserve it. I'm a monumental fuck-up, you know it, I know it. But I just want you to give me a chance, so that you can see how I've changed.'

Mimi interrupted by snorting and raising a hand. 'Hold up. Are you suggesting I get back with you?'

'It was more of a request that a suggestion,' he replied sheepishly.

'Are you insane? After everything you did, everything you said? You've got more chance of sprouting wings, sunshine.'

'I can fix it all Mimi.'

'No. You can't. Tai is already fixing the damage you did, I don't need you to fuck it all up.'

'Tai? The kid you were friends with when you were younger?'

'My _boyfriend._ And for your information, we've always been friends, not just when we were kids.'

'I see. I'll leave you to it, I can see I'm wasting my time.' He got up and slung his coat over his shoulder, in the cool way Matt did every so often.

'Yes, you are.' Mimi followed him to the front door and opened it, pausing before allowing him past. 'I think it's best if you don't contact me again.'

Michael nodded and stepped outside, approaching his car. He climbed in and before closing the door he took one last look at Mimi. 'Goodbye Meems.' Mimi did not reply. Instead she shut the door and slumped against it, shivering. She wondered what she had been thinking, actually _allowing_ him into her home, but more prominently she wondered what she had expected. An apology? A legitimate excuse? Because she didn't get either. She had moved on, she had Tai, the one man who was able to fix her, and she wouldn't flinch if someone told her that Michael's existence had been eliminated. She felt awful for thinking it, but it was the truth, there was too much water under the bridge to even care about him as a human being anymore. She sat on the floor, her hand to her forehead, cursing herself for even thinking that this was a good idea. Yes, she had told him she was taken. And yes, she had told him never to contact her again. But it wasn't done. Without at least an apology, she didn't feel the closure she had expected, and sighing in frustration, she realised that she probably never would.

* * *

Tai was sitting in his office, leaning back into his chair with his feet on his desk, reading the newspaper. He had had literally nothing to do all morning and he was annoyed, because the only reason he had come in to work was to keep himself busy. If he had wanted to do nothing all day, he would have skipped, like he had the day before. His mind wandered to the previous day; when he had gone to visit his mother. He had been pleasantly surprised to see her up and dressed, and even though she was complaining that the staff were treating her like a child, she had perked up considerably at TK and Kari's news. He felt a strong sense of relief that her stay on the ward and new treatments seemed to be paying off so quickly, and he thought back to Matt's words of wisdom. _She's going to get better. Everything's going to be fine._ Of course, he seemed to have been right, and Tai was glad of it. For once, he actually believed that things were improving. For him and his family. He shoved his newspaper down on the desk and sighed, twiddling his thumbs.

'Give me strength,' he said to the emptiness of his office. A knock at the door startled him. He looked upwards, as if speaking to a higher entity and smiled. 'Thank you,' he groaned. 'Come in!'

'Tai, could you proof read this for me?' Izzy strolled over to the desk and dumped a stack of papers onto it. Tai stared at it in astonishment.

'Could you not have emailed that?'

'I could have, but Davis wanted to play with the new printer, and you know what he's like.'

Tai chuckled. 'Yeah.' He pointed at the papers in front of him. 'You do realise I'm your boss? This shit is your job, not mine.'

'Yeah but I figured since you had nothing to do, it would be a welcome distraction from boredom.'

'Huh. Can't argue with that. Jeez, who's the best boss in the world?'

'I'd say my previous employer.' Izzy smirked at Tai, well and truly wiping the grin off his face.

'And I'd say you'll be looking for a new one if you don't cut the attitude.'

'Whatever dude,' replied Izzy, snorting. 'You'd be lost without my contribution.'

'Only a little,' Tai laughed as he watched Izzy exit, and turned his eyes to the papers in front of him. He'd wanted something to do, and it had been delivered. He looked back up to whatever being he had pleaded to earlier and frowned. 'Is this your idea of a sick joke?'

An hour passed and Tai had finished reading the papers Izzy had dumped on him. He had to admit, he was impressed. He was pretty smart, but Izzy was something else entirely. He always had been. Back when they were kids, Izzy was the one to solve many of their problems in the Digital World through his quick and logical thinking. In high school the group had playfully called him 'the nerd', something he actually appreciated; since his intelligence was something he was highly proud of. _Some things never change,_ thought Tai humorously. He glanced at the clock. Twelve thirty. _Fuck it, early lunch,_ he decided, and he stood up, straightening his tie and throwing his jacket over his shoulder. He checked his phone for messages and noticed one from Mimi.

_I'm almost done here, am I alright to come see u at work in a while? X_

He smiled as he left his office, passing his employees and leaving them wondering what he was so cheerful about, as he typed a reply.

_Of course, I'm just gonna get some food and I'll be back at the offices x_

He left the building, his spirits lifted at the idea of seeing Mimi's beautiful face again, even though he'd only seen her that morning. Turning a corner, his attention was turned to a voice aimed at him.

'Tai.'

He turned to look at the person the voice belonged to, laughed, and quickened his pace. 'Yeah, not happening. You're not supposed to be anywhere near me.'

'Tai, just hear me out.'

'Seriously, Miya, will you fuck off? You've done enough damage.'

'No but I haven't, have I?' Tai stopped as Miya grabbed his arm. 'I had nothing to do with that girl's house; I was locked up and interrogated about something I never knew anything about, so humour me, please. Just for a moment.'

Tai exhaled deeply and rolled his eyes. She was right; she had been wrongly accused, and the only thing she was guilty of was freaking him and Mimi out that night in the alleyway. 'Fine. You've got two minutes.'

* * *

Kari took a deep breath of cool air, feeling a little better. TK had insisted she take yet another day off work, as she was feeling very fragile and shaky. She had left her house feeling dreadful, with the intention of going Tai's place of work to ask him if he wanted to go get some lunch –if she could stomach it – in the hopes that it would make her feel a little better. But the fresh air was already doing her the world of good, and she was pleased to note that the constant urge to retch was beginning to subside. She turned a corner and walked straight into someone, almost knocking them over.

'Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!' she cried, grabbing the arm of the poor victim of her clumsiness to prevent them from falling. She looked at the woman and her guilt turned into confusion.

'Shh!'

'Mimi? What are you doing?'

Mimi pulled Kari into a shadow and pointed at two people. Kari looked in the direction of Mimi's finger, surprised at herself for noticing that her nails looked painfully bitten and sore, and saw none other than the man she was on her way to see. Standing with someone else. 'Oh crap.'

'You know her, then?' Mimi's voice sounded sad and hollow.

'Yeah, she's the weirdo my brother made the mistake of dating. Can't stand the girl. What are you doing, anyway? Oh lord… are you _spying?_'

'Yes, ok?' Mimi sighed. 'I'm spying. I was on my way to see him and I came across… _this._' She waved her hand at the situation in front of her. 'What are they even doing? She just grabbed his arm and he's agreed to talk to her. You don't think he wants to work it out with her, do you?'

Kari stared at Mimi as if she was a few cards short of a full deck. 'Are you insane? He's not that stupid. Besides, he has you now. You're worth a million of her. Not to mention the fact that you're prettier.' She watched as Mimi smiled at her remark, and the two turned their attentions back to Tai and Miya.

'Can you hear what they're saying?' Mimi nudged Kari.

'I _would_ be able to, if you'd just shut up,' she whispered in reply, amused at her friend's slight paranoia. She listened intently, and the more she focused on the two, the better she began to hear the conversation. She glanced at Mimi and knew that she could hear it too.

'I'm just saying, Tai. It was good while it lasted. Tell me you disliked me before we broke up.'

Kari heard Tai let out an exasperated sigh. 'I can't,' he said. 'I didn't dislike you. I wouldn't have been with you if I had.' Kari looked at Mimi to see the small scowl on her face before turning back to Tai.

'See, that's what I mean. It was all good until we broke up, right?'

'Obviously it wasn't, or we wouldn't have broken up in the first place.'

'Tai.' The girls watched as Miya took a step closer to Tai, and both felt their hands curl into fists. 'You chose wrong. You know you did. You could have had me! If you hadn't chosen that _whore,_ we could have spent an eternity together!'

Mimi gasped, and she and Kari waited with baited breath to see if Tai would stand up for her. They weren't disappointed. They saw Tai bend so that his face was closer to Miya's, and the look of anger in his eyes was unmistakeable to them.

'Looks like I had a lucky escape then,' he hissed. He straightened up as Miya appeared to grab his shirt and push him back against the wall. Kari silently pleaded with her brother to shove her straight back, but she knew that he wouldn't. He'd be too afraid of hurting her. Mimi was clearly making the same plea.

'Now's not the time to be a gentleman, Tai,' she whispered. 'Just push her.'

Kari watched as her brother fought his urge to push the blue-haired girl away from him, and all of a sudden her protective instinct kicked in. She felt a rush of anger and adrenaline race through her body, and suddenly she understood why Tai was so aggressive when it came to her own safety. Her mind became blank with rage as she stormed past Mimi and towards the girl cornering Tai.

'Take your fucking hands off my brother, you bitch!'

Miya and Tai looked up to see Kari, who was red with anger, and Mimi, who was clearly just as shocked at Kari's words as they were.

'Kari-' Mimi started, but fell silent when a loud crack filled her ears and she watched in horror as Miya dropped to the floor holding her nose. She and Tai looked at each other briefly, then to the younger girl, who still had her fist clenched and was shaking with adrenaline.

'That was real responsible for someone in your condition,' Miya spat, looking at Kari's tiny bump, which was exaggerated by the tight t-shirt she was wearing. Kari bent down so that she was balancing on the balls of her feet and glared at her.

'You'd better be thankful that this _is_ my condition because believe me, if it wasn't, you wouldn't be breathing right now,' she hissed. 'If you _ever_ so much as look in my brother's direction again, I promise you… I will _end _you.' And with that, she stood up and wiped a small smear of blood from her hand. 'She won't be bothering you again, Tai.'

Tai stood still, rooted to the spot as Mimi rushed to his side. The pair stared at Kari in shock, and then at Miya, who was pushing herself off the ground, still wiping blood from her nose. Mimi prepared herself for the inevitable fight-back, in which she would fight in place of her pregnant friend, but it never came. Miya simply stood up shakily, and walked away. Holding onto Tai's arm, Mimi frowned.

'What a weird day,' she said quietly.

* * *

**Well Miya's a bit of a wrong'un ain't she? And Kari _has_ got some fight in her after all hehe :) Thank you very much for reading :)  
**


	19. Chapter 19 - Bonding

**CHAPTER NINETEEN - Bonding**

Several weeks had passed since Mimi and Tai's odd encounters with their respective exes, and not a word on the topics had been said between the pair, with the exception of a few comments regarding Kari's sudden feistiness. Mimi had assumed that she was the victim of her own hormones making her aggressive and whatnot, whereas Tai understood her reaction to Miya all too well. In his own opinion though, his sister had handled the situation pretty well, since if it had been her who was cornered by an ex-boyfriend (or _any _man for that matter), there was one thing he was damn sure of. He would be locked up for murder, and it would have been worth it. Everyone had been a little worried (albeit secretly) about the younger Kamiya's fate, concerned that Miya would go to the police and report her for the assault, but nothing appeared to come of it, and what's more, Miya Tanaka seemed to have disappeared from the face of the planet, not contacting Tai or following him, something they were all glad of. Tai was busy contemplating the potential consequences of Kari's actions had Miya pressed charges, causing him to be thrashed by Matt on the PlayStation when Mimi entered the room, her head bent and her gaze on the screen of her phone, with a solemn look on her face.

'Sophie again?'

'Huh?' Mimi looked up to see the two men settled on the sofa, controllers in hands, with Tai barely looking away from the TV to address her. She watched as he groaned and threw his controller at Matt then turned to look at her.

'Sophie? You said she'd been emailing you constantly?'

'Oh. Yeah.' Mimi felt guilt wash over her. She hated lying to Tai and her friends, but if he knew the truth, it would put more strain on him than it was putting on her, and he didn't need that. Neither of them did. The truth was, it wasn't Mimi's friend Sophie from New York who had been filling her inbox with emails, it was Michael. And although nothing _sexually_ suggestive had been sent to her, she still felt the need to hide it from Tai. The emails consisted mostly of apologies for not staying during his last visit to 'fight for her', but the only thing Mimi noticed was that there were no apologies for the way she had been treated when they were together. She hadn't replied to any of the messages, yet they kept coming, with him asking to meet again, but promising to stay away if that was what she wanted. And by not responding, that was exactly what she wanted to imply.

'She sounds like a stalker,' said Matt, taking a drink from his bottle.

'No, she's really sweet,' replied Mimi honestly. It was true, Sophie was the only friend she ever had in New York who didn't stab her in the back, but they hadn't been close enough for Mimi to confide in her during her troubles. 'She's just missing me, I guess.'

'Hmm.' Tai looked at Mimi with a dark eyebrow raised, having noticed that she would never reply to 'Sophie' after she'd read an email from her. He watched as she left the room again and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and biting his thumbnail.

'What's up?' Matt asked, noticing the concern on his friend's face.

'Nothing.'

'Come on man, I've known you for years, you still think that'll wash with me?'

Tai sighed, throwing his head back dramatically. 'You remember how you told me to let Mimi come to me if she has something she wants to talk about? And to leave it if she doesn't?'

'Yeah.'

'Something's bothering her, and she hasn't said anything.'

'Probably because she doesn't want to talk about it. I'm not sure you understood what I said,' Matt smirked.

'I understand completely, trust me. It's just frustrating. I think it's got something to do with that Sophie. You don't think it was her who-'

'Broke into her house?' Matt interrupted. 'Not a chance. Sophie's in New York. Think about it, Tai. If Mimi had any information about it, she'd go straight to the police, given the hell she went through when they let Miya go. Don't you think you're looking too far into this?'

Tai flinched at the mention of Miya's name and sighed. 'I guess. Oh, god, what if she's cheating?'

'She's not cheating, Tai.'

'Fuck it, whatever it is, Ima get it out of her one way or another.'

'Not a good idea, pal.'

'How would you know?' Tai snapped. 'What kind of friend never bothers to ask if there's something on her mind?'

'The kind of friend who let her talk when she was comfortable, instead of badgering her constantly. Let's just take a second to remember who was there for her when she was at her lowest, Tai.'

Tai groaned loudly in frustration and put his head in his hands. 'You're right, I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' replied Matt grouchily. 'If you wanna talk to her, go ahead, I'm not stopping you. Just know that there'll be a limit on how much you can pester her until she gets fed up of it.'

'Yeah, I know. Maybe I'll just ask once and if she doesn't want to talk now, then I'll just let her know that I'm here when she wants to.'

'That's more like it.' Matt smiled triumphantly.

Tai got up and made his way to his bedroom in search of Mimi. He pushed open the door slightly and saw her sitting on his bed with her back to him, her phone to her ear and her head in her free hand. He hated to eavesdrop, but something about her posture made him wonder if she was about to spill her guts to whoever was on the other end of the line, and he figured that if he heard it, he wouldn't have to ask her. Her voice was quiet and Tai struggled to hear her clearly so he moved a little closer, leaned on the doorframe and listened closely.

'What do I do, Sora?' There was a long pause as Mimi listened intently to whatever advice Sora was giving her. Tai assumed that Sora knew very little about the situation, since Mimi clearly had to elaborate. 'It's Michael… Yeah… I don't know, he treated me like crap, Sora, I can't talk to him, I can't… There's no point, I saw him a few weeks back…'

Tai's breath hitched. Michael? If he 'treated her like crap,' he must have been the one who damaged her; the one Matt had persuaded her to stay away from when she broke up with him. _But he lives in New York, how can she have seen him?_ He wondered. _And why didn't she tell me?_ A million thoughts ran through Tai's head. _Why is she being so secretive? Is this the reason she's been acting so funny? Oh god… is she cheating on me?_ He shook his head to escape the thoughts, and soon his questions were answered.

'Are you on crack? I can't reply! He's been practically begging to see me for weeks, even though I told him where to go last time!'

Tai sighed quietly in relief. _She had told him where to go. _That was a little comforting to him, even if he still wasn't a hundred percent sure what the hell was going on. He listened as Mimi continued.

'He was only supposed to be here on business, I don't know why he hasn't fucked off home yet… No… I can't block him in case he tries to tell me he's gonna randomly show up and I won't be prepared… I can't tell Tai, he'll go bat shit crazy… I dunno, I figured if I ignored him he'd get bored and stop with the emails…'

Tai had heard enough. He turned on his heel and went back into the living room. He didn't notice Matt turn to look at him as he stood there, lost for words.

'Tai? What is it?'

'Michael. Her ex… fucking prick.'

'What about him? Don't tell me she's thinking about going back to _him._ Tai? Will you just tell me what the fuck is going on?'

'She doesn't want to go back to him. Clearly.' He looked at Matt, who was standing with his hands in his pockets, his eyebrow raised, waiting for him to elaborate. 'I think he's harassing her. Asking to see her because he's in Odaiba. She said she ignored him, hoping he'd get bored of emailing her, but I don't think he has.'

'_Harassing her? _He can't do that, I'm gonna go talk to her.'

'No, you can't.' Tai held up his arm to prevent Matt from passing him.

'Why not?'

'Because she didn't tell me. I sort of… overheard her on the phone to Sora.'

'You were eavesdropping?!'

'I couldn't help it, I was about to talk to her, and I saw she was on the phone, I figured if I just listened to her tell someone else, I wouldn't have to 'pester' her as you so elegantly put it.'

Matt put his hands back in his pockets and groaned. 'Well what can we do, then?'

'I have no idea.' Tai paused for a second and lit up as though an idea had floated through his mind. 'Actually… there is one thing we could do.'

Matt looked at him with one eyebrow raised for several seconds and shrugged. 'Well what is it? I'm not a mind reader.'

'We could send him a little email of our own.' Tai grinned triumphantly.

'Wouldn't it be easier to just talk to her?'

'Yeah, but she's not going to reply to him so there's nothing to say he'll stop mailing her.'

'And how do you plan on getting his email address without asking Mimi, fuckwit?' Matt removed his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms.

'We can hack her emails or something,' replied Tai casually.

'She'll go fucking crazy, Tai! And besides, neither of us are any good with computer shit.'

Tai thought for a second then pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialled a number and held it to his ear. Matt looked at him questioningly.

'Who are you calling?'

Tai smiled mischievously. 'Izzy.'

* * *

Sora ended her call to Mimi and walked back into the living room, smiling as she watched Kari pat her little bump proudly. 'Are gonna find out if it's a boy or a girl?'

'I dunno,' replied Kari. 'I think TK wants to keep it a surprise.'

'Kar, you're gonna be pushing a small human from your lady parts, it's gonna be a surprise whether you know the sex or not.'

'Oh, lord.' The two girls laughed together as they lounged on the sofas in Kari's apartment.

'I'm really glad we're doing this,' said Sora, taking a sip of hot chocolate. 'It's been a long time since we spent any time alone together.'

'Tell me about it.' Kari smiled in content. 'And it's nice that TK and Davis a spending time together as well; although I can practically smell the testosterone from here, they're so competitive.'

Sora laughed and nodded in agreement. 'I know they're only fishing, but you can almost guarantee one of them will come back in full-on sulky sore loser mode. Hey, do you remember when they couldn't stand each other?'

'Oh gosh, yes,' replied Kari, giggling. 'He used to wind TK up so much; I'm surprised TK never knocked his teeth out!'

'I know, I know,' gasped Sora, laughing hard at the memories of conflict between the two teenage boys. 'They're too much like Tai and Matt, they were exactly the same, remember how much they used to fight?'

Kari nodded, watching as her bump wobbled when she laughed, which only made the girls laugh harder. 'But look at them now; Tai and Matt have the ultimate bromance.'

'Tell me about it; they make me sick,' giggled Sora. 'And anyway, the only reason Davis and TK used to argue so much was because Davis had it bad for you.'

'Looks like he's got it bad for someone else now.' Kari winked at her friend and watched as a blush formed across Sora's cheeks. 'Didn't see that one coming.'

'I don't think anyone did,' replied Sora sheepishly. 'Not even me.'

'What's the deal with that, anyway? The way Mimi put it, it was only supposed to be a one-time thing.'

'It never is when it comes to friends though, is it?' Sora shifted slightly. 'I mean, look how awkward it was with Matt and Mimi after they… you know. It's a miracle they managed to move past it. I don't think I could have.'

'Did you two… on the night of the party?'

'No. We were rudely interrupted by Joe.' Sora trailed off, remember just _why_ Joe had interrupted them, and instantly felt guilty when she saw Kari shift on the sofa. 'Sorry, I didn't think.'

'Don't be sorry, I'm sorry he dragged you into it,' Kari replied with a warm smile. 'But hey, if he hadn't, you and Davis might have actually been just a one-time thing. Look at you now.'

'I know. I'm kind of glad. I mean, after the party he told me that he liked me and actually asked me out. Which was shocking considering his reputation. I feel better knowing that I'm sleeping with my boyfriend rather than having quickies with a friend.'

'Oh god, Sora!' Kari snickered.

'I know, I'm sorry,' she replied, embarrassed. 'I never even wanted a boyfriend, and now I'm happier than I've been in a long time.' She smiled and Kari felt a rush of warmth knowing that her friend was content.

'I'm glad,' she said honestly. The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment or two, thinking about the men in their lives. 'Oh!' Kari said loudly as she sat up quickly, her eyes wide.

'What is it, is it the baby?' Sora moved forward, concerned.

'No, no, it won't be time for ages you idiot. I completely forgot why I asked you round in the first place,' she replied.

Sora leaned back, sighing with relief. 'Jeez, you sure know how to give a girl a heart attack. What is it?'

'There's something I really wanted to ask you before Mimi and Yolei blabbed about being my bridesmaids and made you feel left out.'

'You asked Mimi and Yolei? Why not me?'

'Because I wanted to ask you if you'll be my maid of honour.'

Sora's frown straightened out and a smile formed on her lips. 'Yes!' she cried, moving to hug Kari. 'Of course I will!'

Kari laughed, reciprocating her friend's hug. 'Anyone would think I'd asked you to marry me!'

* * *

'That should do it,' said Izzy, sitting at his desk and feeling intimidated as Matt and Tai stood tall behind his chair, on either side of him. 'I still don't like this. If she finds out, I don't want to be involved.'

'Too late, you already are,' said Tai, a smirk on his face. Noticing the look of worry cross Izzy's face, he softened. 'I'm kidding, I won't even mention you.'

Izzy visibly relaxed and sighed. 'Ok. But just so you know, you two are in deep shit when she _does_ find out.'

'Yeah, yeah, we know. I've already tried telling him,' said Matt irritably, nodding in Tai's direction. 'But you know what he's like.'

'Indeed I do.' Izzy stood up and waved his hand at his chair, inviting one of the taller men to sit down. 'You know what to do.' And with that, he left his study, leaving Tai and Matt to plan their own funerals, and shaking his head at their ridiculous idea. After all, the only reason he was helping them was because they were his friends. And he couldn't deny that Mimi needed to be rid of this Michael dick and if anyone could make that happen, it was either Tai or Matt.

'Well this is an unusual bonding exercise.' Looking at Tai, Matt smirked and nodded at the computer, which was already logged into Mimi's email account. 'Wanna do the honours?'

Tai stood still for a moment before the reality of what he was doing set in. He was invading his girlfriend's privacy. 'Actually, I'm not so sure anymore.'

'Oh you are the definition of pussy,' sighed Matt, sitting on the chair. 'Fine, I'll do it.' He rested his fingers on the keyboard for a moment before beginning to type slowly. Tai watched the blonde carefully as his fingers began to move faster over the keys, the email becoming angrier and more harshly worded as Matt's resentment at the man who treated Mimi so badly grew, before he put his hand on Matt's shoulder.

'Ishida.' Tai's voice was dangerously low as he watched Matt's hands still over the keyboard and his head bend. He heard him trying to steady his breathing and saw his jaw clench in anger. 'That's enough.'

Matt lifted his head and exhaled loudly. He hadn't even wanted to do this, he hadn't wanted to invade Mimi's privacy like this, and he certainly hadn't wanted to get involved in Tai's plan. But he would have supported his best friend in anything, and now he felt as though he had both men's fury flowing through his veins and he had to remind himself that although Michael was the prick who had effectively ruined Mimi's self-esteem, she was a lot stronger than anyone gave her credit for. He couldn't bring himself to read through the message he had furiously typed out, and so he clicked the send button, deleted it from the sent section of Mimi's account, and logged out. He stood up and ran his hands through his messy blonde hair and then down his face.

Tai walked up to him and slapped him lightly on the back. 'Relax, man. You did good.'

* * *

**Ooh naughty Tai and Matt! Not the best chapter I've ever written, but we're moving fast now and we're going to be finding out more about Mimi's break-in soooon :) Thank you to my lovely reviewers, and a note to SleepinEdwin - Cody is going to be in the next chapter, thank you for your suggestion :) Till next time, m'lovelies :)**


	20. Chapter 20 - Only Human

**Happy Saturday folks! :) Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**CHAPTER TWENTY – Only Human**

Mimi stretched and yawned. It was still early. She loved Sunday mornings. Saturday nights were often spent doing rather adult activities with Tai, spanning several hours since he never had to get up early for work on Sundays. She looked over to her boyfriend, who was sleeping peacefully, and smiled sadly. _I'm not surprised he's still sleeping. Poor Tai,_ she thought. She thought about the events that had occurred just a few hours ago.

_Mimi was woken in the night with a kick in the ribs and a piercing cry and rolled over to see Tai practically ripping his sheets with his clenched fists, sweat pouring from his forehead and shouting for his sister. She snapped from her tired state and threw herself at him, holding his arms although they were much too strong for her to keep still; holding back her tears as she watched the love of her life writhing in pain and grief, and shouted for him to wake up._

'_Tai! Tai, it's just a dream, baby, it's just a dream!' His eyes snapped open and stared straight into Mimi's, cold for a second until he realised who she was, and he immediately relaxed, his breathing heavy. Mimi pulled him into a sitting position and watched as he made the usual post-nightmare call to check up on his sister and then held him tightly as he rested his head on her chest and gripped the front of her t-shirt to calm himself down. 'It was just a dream, you're ok,' she repeated to him and she rocked him as if he were her child._

Mimi shifted over to him and lay on him, tracing her nails on his chest. She had thought he was over these nightmares as there had been less and less since his mother had been admitted to hospital, and during the last week, he hadn't had a single one. Until last night. And it was by far the worst one Mimi had seen. He refused to talk about them much; although from what Mimi could gather, the dreams consisted of Kari being hurt by their mother in some way. She looked up at him and placed her hand gently on the side of his head, stroking his large mess of dark hair with her thumb and nuzzling into his neck. 'My poor baby,' she said quietly to herself. She stared at him for a while, completely in awe. This was Tai Kamiya, former leader of the original eight, the strongest and bravest man she had ever met, the man who had led their group into battles with terrifying creatures as a young boy and would have protected each and every one of them with his life. And yet as an adult he was being plagued by nightmares preying on his weaknesses. She felt sadness rip through her body and she allowed tears to fall freely as she held herself close to him, desperately needing to protect him the way he had always protected her, even when they were little. As she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a quiet sob, she felt strong arms wrap themselves around her and pull her even closer.

'Hey,' said Tai softly, waking from his sleep. 'What's the matter?'

'Nothing,' she sniffed. She felt him tilt her head up with his finger so that she was looking at him. Dark brown eyes filled with worry looked deep into her own watery hazel ones, and she looked back down. 'I'm just sad for you, Tai.'

Tai kissed her forehead gently and held her slim frame against his bare chest, appreciating her warmth. 'You don't have to be sad for me,' he whispered into her hair. 'They'll go away. It was the first one in over a week, that's a good sign, right?'

'Yeah.' Mimi sniffled against him and shut her eyes, not wanting his bare skin to be tainted by her tears. 'It's just… you act so strong and carefree, but you hide all of… this. I just feel like you're more vulnerable than you look.'

'I'm fine, Meems. Really. I'm a big boy, and things can only get better, right?'

Mimi looked up at his face and nodded weakly. _God he's perfect,_ she thought. He was beautiful in the morning. His hair was messy, his eyes were a little dark, his handsome usually-sharp features soft and lazy from sleep. She found herself thinking that he was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on. Reaching up, she planted a soft kiss on his lips and smiled. 'You're my weakness, Tai, you know that?'

'I know. I love you, Meems,' he replied, his thumb brushing her soft, rosy cheek. And he meant it. Mimi Tachikawa was without doubt the most amazing woman he had ever met. She was beautiful, smart, funny, brave and elegant. Tai felt himself fall deeper in love with her every single time he looked at her, and he knew that she was the one he was going to spend his life with. He held her for a while; the pair of them overwhelmed by their feelings for each other, and then spoke quietly.

'We getting up?' When she didn't answer, he looked down at her to find that she'd gone back to sleep. Smiling, he pulled himself away from her carefully and sat on the side of the bed, when he saw Mimi's phone sitting on the bedside table. He looked back at her sleeping face, picked up the phone and smirked to himself.

_No new emails._

* * *

Matt woke suddenly when he felt a hand collide with his cheek.

'What the fuck was that for?' He looked at Clo, who was mumbling something in her sleep. He laughed as he realised that she was completely oblivious to the fact that she had rolled over rather dramatically and slapped him in the face. He turned on his side and propped his elbow on his pillow, resting his head in his hand and staring at the pretty blonde lying next to him. He was aware that he looked pervy as hell, but he couldn't help it. To him, Clo was amazing. They had spent several perfect weeks together, and Matt was starting to wonder if his feelings for her were growing into something else. _What is that? _He thought. _Love? _He shook his head to rid it of the word, as though it was forbidden. _I don't love,_ he told himself sternly. He thought about how she had changed him without even realising. _I don't love. _How she had made him focus solely on her, how he didn't want anything to do with any of the cheap girls who wanted a bit of him. _I don't love. _He and Clo had reluctantly put a label on their relationship at the beginning, but now Matt took great pride in telling the girls who threw themselves at him so shamelessly that he had a girlfriend. _I don't love. _He imagined what their future might look like, if they had one. He pictured himself spending his life with Clo, and he was shocked to realise that the idea had made him smile. _I don't love. _The grin quickly turned into a frown as fear took over him. _Or maybe I do, _he thought.

'You _are_ aware that you look creepy as fuck right now?' Clo watched as he snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her.

'Uh, yeah,' he replied awkwardly, wondering how long she had been awake. He put his arms out and allowed Clo to bring herself into them. The lovers lay together in silence for a while until Clo spoke.

'I like you.'

Matt smirked and looked down at her. 'Erm… ok. I… like you too?' He felt Clo shift uncomfortably in his arms.

'No, I mean… I _really_ like you. I haven't felt like this before. In fact, I think I might _more_ than like you, if you know what I mean.'

Matt felt his entire body stiffen as he let out a low whistle and attempted to stop his nerves getting the better of him. _This is dangerous, _he thought. _It's ok to think about it. Actually saying it is crazy. It makes it more…real._ 'Erm…'

'You don't have to say anything,' Clo interrupted. 'I just thought you should know. It's a bit nuts, I know, but I can't help it. You've completely changed the way I look at relationships and sex and whatever. And I've been thinking about how I feel about this relationship being long-term, and it's literally all I want. I'm only human after all, and it's natural. I… I…'

Matt sat up quickly, raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice. 'Don't,' he said dangerously.

She ignored him. 'I think I love you.'

Matt stared at her in shock, completely unsure of what to do or say, his mind racing. Suddenly he had an irrepressible urge to live up to his reputation, and he moved away from her. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he hurriedly pulled on his jeans. 'I have to go home.'

'Yamato-'

Matt raised his arm to silence her. 'Don't! Don't call me that!' He pulled his t-shirt over his head and when he was dressed he picked up his bag, which had been slung into the corner of Clo's bedroom the previous night.

'Please don't leave, I'm sorry! I can't help it, Matt, I'm confused, and I don't understand what I'm supposed to be feeling because it's all new to me!' She jumped out of bed and stood in front of her bedroom door, blocking his way. 'What is your problem? How have those words pissed you off so much_?_'

'The words aren't the problem, Clo!' He shouted.

'Then what is? Why are you so damn _angry?_' She backed into the door as Matt cornered her, his frame towering over her own.

'I'm angry because I love you too, and it fucking terrifies me!' he shouted, his loud, deep voice making her wince. Clo stood still, her eyes wide, completely lost for words. The two stood in silence until Matt could bear it no more. He gave her a gentle shove and left, slamming the door behind him. Clo sat on her bed and put her head in her hands, wondering just how they let it get so far so fast. _I should have known. I'm an idiot._

Matt sat in his car and dropped his head onto the steering wheel. 'FUCK!' he shouted into the silence. A wave of regret washed over him and he groaned loudly. _Why did I fuck that up? I'm such an idiot!_ He was scared, that much was true, for Yamato Ishida was not the type of man to be in love; he was a man with a fondness for one night stands, easy girls and masses of female attention. He had always been satisfied with his lifestyle, and had never felt as though anything was missing – until now. And yet here he was; denying himself the one pleasure nature had been trying to throw at him all his adult life. He put his key in the ignition and paused. _What am I doing? _He thought. _What's the point in hurting myself? And Clo… _Sighing in frustration, he forcefully pulled his key back out and got out of the car. He leaned on it for a while, thinking of all the pros and cons of going back and telling her exactly how he felt. _Pros,_ he thought. _I get these feelings off my chest. I get to be in a real relationship with a sweet, gorgeous girl. I might actually enjoy this love thing. I have a chance to try something new. Cons; I'm fucking petrified._ Deciding that the pros massively outweighed the single con, he shook his head in spite of himself, wondering what had happened to him. He wasn't someone to be scared easily; hell, he was just as brave as Tai, he had fought in and won the same wars, he had wandered the dangerous Digital World by himself knowing he could easily be killed, and it was common knowledge that Matt was courageous and trustworthy – as proved by Tai when he had entrusted Matt with the safety of the most important thing in his life when he had to separate from the group – his little sister. So he was pretty damn mad at himself for allowing something as silly as love to be the thing to frighten him. Groaning, he made his way back to the house, and instead of pausing to knock, he walked straight through the front door and headed for the stairs. Pushing open Clo's bedroom door, he saw her sitting on her bed, her head in her hands and he felt searing guilt tear through him. He stopped near the door and cleared his throat.

'What are you-' Clo started, and Matt silenced her by striding over to her, kneeling in front of her and kissing her, holding her face with both hands. He pulled away, and stared into her big eyes. Matt noticed that although they didn't look as though she'd been crying, they clearly held a lot of worry, and in that moment, all he wanted to do was take it away. She opened her mouth to speak again, and he shook his head.

'Don't say anything. I'm a dick,' he said, his voice a little loud from nerves. 'I'm sorry I acted that way, but you were right; when you said it was all new to you, that's exactly how I felt, how I _still _feel, and I'm not gonna lie – I'm scared. But I acted like a complete and utter douche, and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Clo, I-'

This time it was Clo's time to cut Matt off, holding her hand to his mouth. 'Slow down there, big boy, I know what you're getting at.' She took her hand from his face and smiled sweetly. 'It doesn't have to be scary, you know? And you don't have to punish yourself for feeling something completely natural, Matt. You don't have to be scared of it, it happens to everyone, right? And you _are _only human.'

Matt nodded slowly in realisation. 'I'm only human,' he repeated quietly.

'So _beautifully_ human,' she replied, her warm smile forcing Matt to abandon his fear.

* * *

Mimi sat on the floor breathing heavily, the front of her hair damp with sweat. She took out her hair tie, shook her curls loose and giggled. 'I think I'll assume that I'm getting better.'

Cody Hida sat next to her, his breathing equally as heavy after several hours of intensity, but looking a little less defeated than Mimi. 'I'd say that assumption would be correct.'

For the last few weeks, Cody had been teaching Mimi the art of kendo in an attempt to help her grasp a better understanding of self defense. She had been hesitant at first, convinced that it would be pointless, since she was hardly going to whip out a shinai whenever she felt threatened. Cody had pointed out that kendo would be beneficial to her whether she had the sword or not. 'As you improve, you'll find that any object is an effective weapon in your hands,' he had said. The martial art still made her nervous, but she had found herself becoming more confident in just a matter of weeks and although she still had a long way to go before she would be moderately good at it, she had surprised Cody with her enthusiasm and rapid improvement. She insisted that it was because Cody was a brilliant teacher, and while that much was true, he felt that her own determination had played a huge part in her development.

She sat still for a while, gathering her composure when she realised that she and Cody had never really had a _real_ conversation. Their interactions had mainly consisted of anything going on in the Digital World when they were younger, and their kendo sessions now. She smiled slightly and turned to face him.

'So what's going on?' she asked casually.

'Huh?' Cody looked at her in confusion.

'Just making conversation, kid,' she shrugged.

'Oh.' He blushed a little and looked back at the floor. 'Nothing much.'

Mimi suppressed a giggle. 'Don't look so nervous, I don't bite. You're telling me you could easily kill me with one of those bloody bamboo swords, and yet _socialising _worries you?'

Cody looked up at the wall, absorbing her words. She had a point. He was painfully shy at times and would often dodge conversation by simply nodding and smiling when someone was talking. It wasn't that he was ignorant, in fact he was extremely polite, but social situations exacerbated his anxiety and he would find himself looking for ways to avoid them. But Mimi was a friend, a good one at that, and he had nothing to fear when she was talking to him.

'I guess I'm not exactly the social type.'

'You can say that again,' Mimi giggled. 'Seriously though, we should catch up. Anything interesting going on in your life right now? Any_one_ interesting?' She nudged him and winked, causing him to blush harder and smile, his green eyes focussing on the ground.

'Not exactly. I've been kinda busy with work and stuff,' he replied.

'Urgh, I hear ya. I never had much time for anything when I was in New York. Can't say I don't miss being busy though. I've been living on my savings since I got back, I've been thinking about job-hunting for a while now.'

'Tai will worry about you.'

'Yeah.' She sighed deeply. 'But he's going to have to live with it. Life goes on and all that jazz. Besides, he's not been too bad lately, I think he's eased up a lot since his mom started improving.'

'I'm glad. I think you're good for him.'

'I think he's good for _me._ Honestly, I'm lucky that he's so lovely, or I'd owe him trillions in rent by now.' She laughed cheerily, and Cody smiled at his friend's happiness.

'He's a good guy.'

'He is.' Mimi nodded in agreement. 'So,' she said, changing the subject. 'How are you spending your Sunday?'

'Well, Davis and Ken wanted to do something, but I think Ken's nervous about leaving Yolei, since she's about ready to give birth.' He winced at the idea. 'So I think Davis and I are going to go to their place for a bit.'

'Good. It'll do you good to socialise.' She winked at him again, and stood up, picking up her bag. 'Thanks for the session, Cody. Same time next week?'

'Well I have a day off on Wednesday if you want to pick up where we left off?'

Mimi nodded and grinned. 'Sure thing.' She wrapped him in a big hug and planted a kiss on his cheek. 'See ya.'

Cody stood rooted to the spot, his cheeks glowing red at Mimi's display of affection, though a small part of him felt very lucky to have such a lovely friend. 'Yeah, see you.'

Mimi strolled out of Cody's large apartment and breathed in the fresh air, feeling liberated and confident, the same way she did after every session. Checking the time on her phone and then returning it to her pocket, she decided to head back to her house before returning to Tai's, so that she could call her father - who never minded that she often woke him up to chat, given the time difference – and spend some time alone. She hadn't yet received a single email from Michael since yesterday, which she saw as a good sign – maybe he had finally got the hint and given up. She wouldn't have been surprised; he never made much effort when they had split up, and she had wondered why he was putting up such a stubborn fight for her just recently, but she was glad that her inbox had been blissfully Michael-free all morning. It was because of his lack of contact that she felt much safer being alone today, and she easily pushed him out of her mind as she drove back to her house, singing along to a song that she felt she related to and also reminded her of her days as a child, fighting to save both her own world and the Digital World with her friends.

_I can hold the weight of worlds, if that's what you need._

_Be your everything._

_I can do it. I can do it. I'll get through it._

_But I'm only human, and I bleed when I fall down._

_I'm only human, and I crash and I break down…_

Before she knew it, she was pulling to a stop outside her house and she picked up her bag from the passenger seat and pulled out her keys. However, as she went to unlock her front door she found that she hadn't needed to. It was already unlocked. She frowned, making a mental note to _not_ tell Tai in order to avoid a lecture on the foolishness of forgetting to lock up on her way out. She stepped inside, part of her bracing herself for the same image that faced her the last time she found her door open, and was relieved to see that everything was in place and there was no creepy red writing on any of her walls or doors. Shaking her head at her forgetfulness and paranoia, she dumped her bag on the kitchen table and leaned on the counter, picking up the house phone next to her and looking out of the window. She quickly glanced at the clock on the wall which read 2.30pm and wondered if her father would be asleep. She doubted it since he often went to bed rather late due to working into the early hours. She pressed a few buttons and listened to the dialling tone.

'_Hello?'_

'Hi daddy. Did I wake you?'

'_No sweetheart. It's another busy one tonight. How are you?'_

'Fine thank you, and yourself?' Mimi smiled at her father's voice. She missed him terribly.

'_I'm very well thank you sweetie. How's that lovely young man you've been telling me so much about?'_

She laughed heartily. 'He's well. Did I tell you his sister got engaged?'

'_The pregnant one?'_

'Yes.'

'_Oh good. It's quite untraditional to bring a baby into the world out of wedlock.'_

'Oh daddy.' Mimi shook her head and smiled. 'TK and Kari are tight. And besides, I suppose they will get married after little one's arrival.'

'_Good. I'll bet they'll be great parents. And from what I remember of young Tai, I think I can safely say that he will make a good husband for you, too. I'm pleased you've chosen a decent man from a nice, traditional family.'_

Mimi chose to avoid mentioning Yuuko's recent predicament. 'Thank you daddy. But I don't think it's wise to be looking so far ahead right now. It is still early days, after all.'

'_I suppose so. Anyway, what have you been up to?'_

'Not much. I've been taking kendo lessons from my friend…'

'_Kendo? Whatever for?'_

Mimi suddenly fell silent. She hadn't even told her father about the break-in, let alone about Miya and her arrest and release, for fear of him worrying about her and making himself ill. 'Just for fun. Did you know that it's brilliant exercise? And it's great for self-defence. Two birds with one stone, huh?'

Mimi's father chuckled. _'I'm glad to hear you're so enthusiastic about it. And it's nice of your friend to teach you. Anything else going on for you?'_

'Not really.' She hesitated before attempting to sound as casual as possible. 'I forgot to tell you, Michael came by a few weeks ago.'

'_Jeez, that took a while.'_

Mimi felt her breath hitch. 'What do you mean?'

'_I take it you hadn't seen him beforehand?'_

'Daddy, what are you talking about? He came to see me the morning after he landed. Come to think of it, do you know why he's still here? Surely his business here in Odaiba wouldn't last this long?' A long pause from Mimi's father made her nervous. 'Daddy?'

'_Mimi, Michael quit his job some time ago. He went to Odaiba the day after you left New York. Everyone thought it was odd that he was following you to another country, but you hadn't mentioned anything, so I assumed that you two were getting on, despite you being in a new relationship. What's going on? Mimi?'_

Mimi held her breath as everything started to piece itself together. The break-in, no evidence of Miya being at her house, the way Michael had so confidently strolled into her kitchen without needing guidance, almost _as if he had been there before,_ the way he casually dismissed Tai as just being 'the kid Mimi was friends with when they were younger.' _He knew, _thought Mimi._ He knew I was with Tai and he was jealous._ And now her father was telling her that Michael was actually in Odaiba at the time of the incident. 'It was him,' she realised out loud. She suddenly felt a presence behind her, and she turned slowly, her eyes wide with fear.

'Finally, she figures it out.' Michael leaned on the counter next to her, holding up the phone cable. _He'd disconnected it._ The line had gone dead, and Mimi was cornered.

'It was you.' Her voice was no more than a fearful whisper, and he smirked at her and raised his hands.

'_Surprise.'_

**Oh dear Mimi, you do get yourself into some predicaments, don't you? To my lovely readers, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Chapter twenty one is currently under construction, and I'm also conjuring up some nice ideas for an epilogue as well, so it's almost over! That makes me kinda sad, but I looove writing so I'll probably be working on a new fic pretty much immediately. :) The song Mimi was singing to in her car was **_**Human**_** by **_**Christina Perri**_**. It's a lovely song and I was listening to it almost the whole way through writing this chapter, so it seemed only fitting to include it, especially since the chapter title is a big reference to it. Also, I had doubted that Cody had much of a part in this story, so he wasn't going to appear, but then I had a nice suggestion in my inbox, so biiiig thanks to ****SleepinEdwin**** who suggested that Cody should be teaching Mimi kendo as self defense, even though I know verrry little about kendo lol! Thank you for reading :) Lots of love!**


	21. Chapter 21 - Be Found or Be Killed

**CHAPTER TWENTY ONE – Be Found Or Be Killed**

Tai looked at his watch. _4.00pm. _He scratched his head and frowned, wondering what was keeping his girlfriend. He probably wouldn't have been panicked by her absence had she returned his phone calls, and he needed to tell her that Kari had invited them both round for dinner. She had left for her kendo session with Cody at about nine thirty that morning, and although Tai was already aware that she usually practised for several hours, she had never been this late, and it was very uncharacteristic of her to ignore her incoming calls, though her phone had been kept on silent mode recently. Sighing, he pulled out his phone and realising that he didn't have Cody's number, he settled for calling Davis.

'_Sup Tai?' _Davis' loud voice echoed through the speaker.

'Hey Davis, do you have Cody's number? I need to get a hold of him.'

'_You're in luck, dude, he's right here with me, we're at Ken's. Do you want me to put him on?'_

Tai was quiet for a moment. If Cody was at Ken's, where was Mimi? 'Uh, yeah please.'

'_One second bro.'_

Tai listened intently to the conversation being held on the other end. It consisted of Davis informing Cody that Tai was on the line, Cody stating that speaking on the phone made him uncomfortable, and Davis replying that _'dude, everything makes you uncomfortable'_. There was a muffled rattling sound that told Tai that the phone was being forced onto Cody, and suddenly his voice was the only thing he could hear. With the exception of the sound of his own heart thumping violently.

'_Hello?'_

'Hey, Cody, it's Tai. I take it Mimi's not with you?'

'_No, she left my place a while ago.' _Silence. _'Tai? You still there?'_

Gut instinct told Tai that something was wrong. Very wrong. 'Uh, yeah I'm still here. Do you know where she went?'

'_Sorry, no. Have you checked at her place?'_

Tai wedged his phone between his ear and his shoulder, picking up his keys and coat. 'No, but I'm going there now.'

'_Alright. Let us know if she's there. But I'm sure she won't have gone far.'_

'Alright, thanks Cody.'

'_No problem. Hope you find her.'_

Tai ended the call and made his way to his car. _Me too, _he thought. Reversing out of the parking lot, he almost ran over a teen on a bicycle, who then proceeded to swear at Tai. _Two can play at that game, _he thought bitterly. 'Hey, kid! You got a fucking death wish or what?' The boy rolled his eyes and rode off, leaving a thoroughly panicked Tai to pick up speed in an attempt to reach Mimi's house as fast as he could. He tried to stay calm, telling himself that he was probably worrying about nothing. But a nagging worry inside him told him that something had happened to her, and he was going to find out himself, whether it turned out to be just paranoia or not. Noticing that he was fast approaching a car waiting at traffic lights, he slammed his brakes on just in time. _Cool it, Kamiya,_ he thought. _Let's not kill yourself today._

Pulling into Mimi's driveway, he noticed that her front door was open, which seemed like a confirmation for him that his gut instinct was right – something was wrong. He burst into the hallway, ran into the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, every room on the ground floor, then proceeded to check upstairs. _Nothing._ She wasn't there. Confused, Tai made his way back to the kitchen and sat at the table, resting his elbows on it and trying to think as his mind clouded with worry. He suddenly realised that he had leaned in something wet, and he moved to dry it with his sleeve. His breath hitched and he frowned as he spotted the red liquid that had been smeared on his arm and the table when he had leaned on it. A million thoughts ran through his mind, and he jumped back in alarm, knocking over one of Mimi's barstools. A flash of colour under the table caught his eye, and he bent down, picking up a bright lipgloss and noticing that it wasn't the only thing there. Her bag was open and had clearly been dropped, spilling the mass of contents on the black tiled floor. The only thing that Mimi's bag didn't seem to contain was her phone. Breathing heavily, Tai pulled out his own phone and dialled a number with shaking hands.

'_Hello?'_

'Matt, it's Tai. Get over to Mimi's, something's happened.'

'_What is it? Tai?' _Tai suddenly felt himself slipping into a state of shock, undoubtedly caused by his sheer panic, and he found that he was losing the ability to speak in coherent sentences. 'Mimi… someone's taken her… no phone… blood…'

At the sound of that horrible word, Matt froze. _'Blood? What are you talking about, who's taken her? Tai? Tai!'_

'Just… call the police… come over… please.' And with that, Tai dropped his phone and crouched on the floor next to it, holding his head in his hands and rocking on the balls of his feet, as he squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to block out the terrifying and unspeakable thoughts plaguing his mind.

* * *

On his way to Mimi's, Matt made a detour. He hadn't called the police as Tai had asked him to, because the way he saw it, some dirtbag had taken one of his best friends from her home –he also had a pretty damn good idea of who it was – and he wanted to find and deal with the bastard himself. It wasn't too sensible, he knew that, but he was angry and filled with adrenaline, and if he was being quite honest with himself, he wasn't in any state to think reasonably. Gathering his composure, he got out of his car and all but ran to the front door of someone he knew would be able to help track Mimi down. His heart was thumping so hard he thought it might stop at any second, so Matt could have been forgiven for being a little breathless when the door opened and he was left to explain the situation.

'It's Mimi. Someone's taken her. I think it was Michael. The one we emailed.'

'The one _you_ emailed.'

'Dammit, Izzy! She's gone, and we need to find her.' Matt put his hand on the doorframe to steady himself as he felt his legs become weak.

Izzy suddenly realised the severity of the situation and straightened up. 'Come on, then.' The smaller man stalked past Matt and looked over his shoulder. 'Well? Get a move on, we might not have much time!' He continued towards Matt's car, leaving the bewildered blonde leaning against the open door.

'Seriously, has no one learnt to lock their damn doors by now?' he mumbled to himself, slamming the door shut and following Izzy.

Tai had just pulled himself together when he heard a knock at the door followed by the footsteps of someone who had let themselves in. Matt stood in the doorway, looking down at the frowning man who was still crouching on the kitchen floor biting his nails.

'Where is she?'

'How the fuck would I know?' snapped Tai. He sighed and pushed himself up. 'I don't know. I don't know Matt, what do we do? I don't know what to do!'

'That's where I come in.' Izzy appeared next to Matt, looking equally as worried, and Tai stared at him, wondering how he got there and what he could possibly do to help.

'What… How… Matt?' Tai stuttered, and Matt looked at the ground, suddenly ashamed. 'You didn't call the police, did you? Look at me! YAMATO!'

'Settle down, Tai.' Izzy mumbled absent-mindedly as his eyes frantically searched the kitchen. Not finding what he needed, he headed to the living room. He spotted what he was looking for, picked it up and put it back down on the table in the kitchen, where Tai and Matt stared at him questioningly. 'Do you know if she has her phone?'

'I guess, since it's pretty much the only thing missing from her bag, along with the kitchen sink.' Tai frowned.

'Right.' Izzy picked up the barstool Tai had previously knocked over in his panic and sat on it, stretching his arms and cracking his fingers.

'What are you doing?' Matt and Tai asked simultaneously.

Izzy opened up the pink laptop in front of him and set to work bypassing the password screen. As it turned out, he hadn't needed to. 'That girl has no clue about security, does she?' he sighed, shaking his head at the lack of password. He became aware of the silence from the other two men and he looked at them, suddenly remembering that they asked him a question. 'Oh! I'm going to try and track Mimi's iPhone. Assuming that she still has the phone with her, we should be able to find out where they are. I just hope the damn thing's in her pocket and not dumped on the side of the road somewhere.'

A thought suddenly occurred to Matt, and it left him feeling as though he was about to throw up. _That's if she even still has her clothes._ He swallowed and cringed, pushing the thought to the back of his head.

They were still staring at Izzy when Tai suddenly clicked his fingers. 'CCTV!'

'What?' Matt jumped at his unexpected outburst.

'Yeah! Yeah, she has CCTV, remember, we ramped up security when this place was broken into?'

Izzy talked as he typed, not moving his eyes from the screen. 'No point. You see, I don't know about you guys, but the camera on the porch was the first thing I looked at when I walked in. It was covered. Besides, that would only tell us who came in, not where they went and since I think we already know who is responsible, I'd say that even if the camera wasn't covered, there wouldn't be much point in wasting time looking at the culprit.'

Tai stared at the redhead, his eyes wide and his forehead manipulated into a deep confused frown. He tried to get some words out, but failed and shook his head instead.

'Oh, and for once Tai, although it isn't the most responsible idea in the world, I actually think Matt may have made the right choice in not immediately calling the police,' Izzy continued. 'If he had, we would have had to stay put while they did their work, and I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty confident I can get faster results, and once we get some answers, _then_ we can tell the police where to look.'

Tai blinked in awe. 'Izzy, that's so-'

'Simple. Seriously Tai, it's the most obvious thing in the world, and it was staring you in the face. Everyone has a phone these days. If you don't know where someone is, finding them is almost child's play. If we manage to track Mimi's phone, I'll actually be quite surprised that Michael is dim enough to not realise that it will only take a couple of minutes to find her.' Izzy swiftly read something on the screen, jabbed one of the keys and smirked. _'Got her.'_

Tai and Matt snapped their heads to look at Izzy.

'So where is she?' Matt asked.

The smirk vanished from Izzy's face and was replaced with a confused expression; something that had never been seen before, for it was not like Izzy to become confused over anything. He turned to look at the two men towering over him, their faces demanding an answer, and grimaced.

Tai felt himself becoming impatient. 'Spit it out, Izzy!'

'The car park near the playground we played in when we were kids.'

Tai stared at Izzy, a sweat forming on above his eyebrows. 'But that thing is like… ten storeys high. And the whole damn place is…'

Matt swallowed. 'Falling apart.'

Izzy stared at Matt, absorbing his words. '_Now_ you call the police.'

* * *

Mimi's eyes fluttered open and she groaned as her senses came back into focus, bringing to her attention the burning sensation on her wrists and ankles. She lifted her head, only to have it drop back down from drowsiness and lack of energy, and it was then that she noticed the cable ties on her ankles. Her mind suddenly became alert, and she felt a rush of adrenaline as she realised that she was tied up on a chair, her wrists bound in front of her and her feet tied together in such a way that she was surprised they hadn't fallen off from the lack of circulation. She felt a drop of liquid run from her temple to the corner of her eye, and for a moment she dismissed it as sweat, but she then realised that her head was pounding, her hair felt heavy, and she assumed that she must have gained some type of head injury when she saw the dark red droplet fall onto her knees and spread dramatically on her white tracksuit bottoms. She was bleeding, but she couldn't remember why. Her ribs and stomach hurt, and she felt as though she had been kicked multiple times, feeling pain shoot through her chest with every shallow breath she took. She slowly lifted her throbbing head and looked around, trying to make sense of her unfamiliar surroundings, and it was only when she spotted the top of the pinkish coloured tree she and Sora used to sit under as kids that she understood where she was. She panicked as she realised that there was a reason this place was blocked off – it was dangerously unstable, and she had always wondered why the damn building hadn't been knocked down, especially as it was situated next to a place where kids played every day. Her thoughts switched to her abductor as she spotted him pacing the floor in front of her, scratching his chin and running his hands through his curly blonde hair. She used some of her remaining energy to smirk.

'Went a little bit too far this time, didn't you?' she mumbled quietly. 'No going back now, huh.'

Michael's eyes suddenly locked onto hers. 'No. There isn't.' There was a long pause. 'Good to see you're awake.'

'Why? Aren't you going to kill me anyway?' The words sounded odd to Mimi, since Michael had never actually physically harmed her, and she wondered what changed so drastically. The old Michael was cruel, sure, but his abuse extended to nasty words and insults. The man in front of her had clearly lost it, though Mimi didn't know why.

'I wasn't going to. But things change.'

'You're telling me. But please. Tell me, what _was_ the original plan?'

'To take you home with me.'

Michael resumed his pacing and Mimi shifted uncomfortably at his words. _Why did he want to take her home with him?_ As far as Mimi was concerned, Michael cared very little for her, or he wouldn't have treated her the way he had. She knew she should have been scared, but she took no notice of her panic. All she wanted now was answers.

'How?'

'How what?' Michael stopped pacing and abruptly turned to look at her, his eyes full of anger and… _was that worry?_

'How'd you manage to pull all this off?'

'It was easy really when I realised that your father hadn't told you I'd followed you; you're not too difficult to keep track of. Neither are your associates.'

'You knew about Tai.'

'Ahh yes, Tai Kamiya. The childhood friend. You know, I knew he had a thing for you even before you knew. Clever, huh?'

'Creepy, actually.'

'Whatever.' Michael waved his hand at her, dismissing her insult.

'How did you know?'

'I'd been tracking you for a while. First there was the night out, where I saw you reuniting with your friends, but _he _wasn't there. But the next day there was the whole coffee shop incident, and I noticed the way you spoke to him differently than your other friends. I also saw the way he kept glancing at you. That's when you had your first encounter with the lovely Miya. Nice girl. Shame about the broken nose.'

Mimi stared at him suspiciously. _Miya?_ 'How would you know her?'

'Well, I saw the girl your boyfriend was hiding from when he described her to you, and shortly after you left the cafe, I spoke to her personally. Introduced myself as a friend of yours, told her about my deep feelings of affection for you.' Mimi felt sick at the idea that Michael had been close enough to hear their quiet conversation. 'Truth was, Miya had been planning on staying well away from Tai, at the advice of those closest to her, but being the persuasive man I am, I convinced her that if she managed to turn him against you, she could start again, be free to be happy with him and I could proclaim my undying love for you. For her, it seemed like a win-win situation. Good thing she's the most naïve girl on the planet.'

Mimi felt bile rise in her throat as she realised two things. One; that Michael had been so close to her and she hadn't even known. And two; that Miya would never have been a problem if Michael hadn't spoken to her. All she had wanted was to leave Tai alone and move on. But then her mind had been changed for her. She suddenly felt an unwanted pang of sympathy for the girl.

'That plan backfired, didn't it?' Mimi forced a smirk. 'Because all it did was make Tai believe she was a nutjob.'

Michael continued. 'Then there was the park. Where you spilled your pain-filled little heart to him, and he pretty much admitted how he felt, even though neither of you even realised it. And then there was the day you went to see him at work. And then – and this is my favourite bit – was when you realised your house had been broken into. And how lover boy didn't answer his phone, so you had to settle for second best. The arrogant fool. Yamato, was it?'

'DON'T!' Mimi suddenly squeezed her eyes shut and refused to listen, her energy returning to her and adrenaline rushing through her veins.

'Touched a nerve, have I? Was it the mention of his name?'

'He is NOT second best, he'll never be second best, and he is NOT an arrogant fool!'

Michael moved to stand behind Mimi, putting his hands on her shoulders and talking close to her ear. 'Ooh, defensive. I wonder how our Tai would feel, knowing just how uptight his girl is getting over his friend.'

'Matt is the only person who was there for me when I left your waste of space ass. I will NOT sit here and listen to some scumbag talk about him like he's nothing.'

Michael chuckled. 'Doesn't look like you have much of a choice, sweetheart.' He watched in amusement as Mimi struggled to move her hands to no avail. She threw her head back and groaned. 'I think I enjoyed your reaction to being burgled even more than actually doing the deed.'

A thought suddenly occurred to Mimi and she snapped her head up to glare at him. 'The picture. The picture of me and Tai when we were younger, what was that about?'

'_That_ was just for fun, to be honest. Although I have to admit, the whole knife-in-your-neck thing was actually a diversion. And it worked. The police thought it was someone with a grudge against you, and they arrested Miya.'

'And the blood?'

'Rabbit blood.'

Mimi cringed. 'What is the point? Why are you doing this?'

'Because I love you, how have you not realised yet? You're not supposed to be with him. We were meant to be together, Mimi.' She shivered in disgust as he planted a soft kiss on her forehead. 'The point I'm trying to make is that I've followed you everywhere, seen everything you've done, and all because I wanted to take you home with me. It was only at your birthday party when I witnessed the moment you and Kamiya admitted your feelings for each other that I decided it was time to step it up a little. So I came to see you personally. But you rejected me and ignored my emails. And _then _I received this little beauty.' He held up a piece of paper.

'What is that?'

'An email. From your address.'

Mimi frowned. 'But I never replied to you.'

'No. But a certain Mr Ishida did.'

Mimi wondered how Matt could have hacked into her email account with the little knowledge he had of computers. Then it hit her. _Izzy._ She scowled. _I'm gonna kill him, _she thought. 'Let me see.'

Michael whipped the paper out of her sight. 'No need. Anyway, it did nothing but prove to me that there wasn't a chance of you coming home with me.'

'Then obviously it did its job,' Mimi hissed. She watched as he licked his lips in frustration and pointed at her.

'You talk too much, anyone ever tell you that?' He was beginning to lose his patience, and Mimi could tell that he was about to snap. Still, so was she. And she no longer cared. In fact, she wanted to wind him up.

'Yes. _You_ did, all the time; I was _never_ allowed to speak unless whatever I wanted to say benefitted you in some way.'

Michael was in front of her face in two strides, grabbing her chin and yanking it up so that her eyes could meet his. 'Shut. Up.'

'Oh I'm sorry, am I ruining your little act? Was this not in the script?'

'SHUT THE FUCK UP!'

'Michael, this isn't you, you know it isn't!'

'Right. I didn't want to have to do this. And you might not believe it yet, but you have to understand that all of this is only because I love you.' Michael reached into his pocket and Mimi watched as he pulled out a roll of thick grey tape. Realising what he was about to do, she panicked.

'If you love me so much, then why are you trying to frighten me? And why-' she was silenced as Michael placed a wide strip of the tape over her mouth.

'I'm not trying to frighten you, sweetheart. I just want you to hear me out. And you can't do that if you keep opening that pretty mouth of yours.' Mimi felt her eyes well up and a tear slide down her cheek. 'Don't cry, it'll all be over soon. What I've been trying to tell you is that since I've realised you weren't coming home, I've been trying to come up with a solution. And there's only one. Since I can't have you, he can't either. No one can.'

Mimi's eyes widened in fear at his words, and she wondered what he was going to do to her. She closed her eyes as she realised that whatever he did, he only wanted one outcome. Her death, so that no one could ever again have her the way he did. She wondered what benefit he would get from this; there was no way out for him, unless he planned on taking his own life as well. _So that they could be together forever._ She thought about her friends – about Matt and how he'd always been there for her, about Sora, Joe and Izzy, who had showed her some of the best times of her life, about TK and Kari, whose relationship had inspired her to take a leap of faith with Tai, and about Yolei, Ken, Davis and Cody and all of their contributions to her life both as children and adults. She began to think about Tai and how he had saved her from her depression, how he had fixed her self-esteem and made her believe that she was worth something again. But before she could start getting emotional over the idea of never seeing him again, a voice caught her attention. It was more of a shout, but it had been muffled by the distance between it and her. She glanced at Michael, who clearly hadn't heard it, and then focussed on trying to hear more of the voice. She knew who it was. _It can't be, _she thought._ How did he know? _She waited for a few moments for her saviour to make an appearance, and when he didn't, she did the only thing she could to try and draw some attention to her. She screamed. It was a nasally and muffled scream thanks to the thick tape obstructing her mouth, but she had no other choice. It was be found or be killed; there was nothing else she could do. She stopped to gasp for breath, but before she was given another chance to scream, she felt a sharp pain on her head as Michael grabbed her hair and pulled her up. She was standing in front of him, her eyes squeezed shut in pain, tears rolling down her cheeks and her nose beginning to feel stuffy. She figured that she had to pull herself together; soon she wouldn't be able to breathe through her mouth _or_ her nose. He bent down to cut the ties on her ankles with a small, useless looking pair of scissors and for a brief second, she naively wondered if he was letting her go. She struggled the moment her feet were free, but Michael gripped her waist and held her still as he freed her wrists.

'Keep still, dammit.'

Mimi cried as he spat his words at her, her eyes wide with fear, and then a flash of silver caught her eye. He was holding a knife. She thought she might faint, and Michael held her up as she felt her legs give way, and before she knew it, she was slumped in his arms, the building spinning around her. She could faintly hear her ex shouting at her to get up, and her senses only began to come back into alert when she heard _his_ voice again. She gathered all of her willpower to stand again and listened intently. She wondered if she was imagining it, since Michael obviously hadn't heard it; she was sure they would both be dead now if he knew someone was coming to save her. When the world came back into focus for Mimi, she stared at the knife, and then at Michael, her eyes demanding to know what he was going to do with it. He understood.

'Now, you're going to do exactly as I say, because if you don't, I have ways of making this very painful for you. See, I don't give a fuck if we're dead or alive, as long as we're together, and you can either make it easy or difficult for yourself. Your choice.'

Before Mimi had the chance to even process the ultimatum he had just given her, she felt the world tip on its side as she was thrown to the ground, pain coursing through her sides and chest, and for a second she believed that Michael had attacked her again. She shut her eyes tightly, expecting a kick or something of the sort, but it never came. Instead, she felt a sharp sting as the tape was ripped from her mouth. Still she refused to open her eyes, terrified that Michael was about to stab her, or throw her off the building, or… _Wait… What's that?_ She heard the sounds of struggling, of metal clanking on the ground just as she felt a warm presence and strong arms lift her up like a baby. She slowly opened her eyes to come face to face with her best friend, who was moving her away from the ongoing struggle between her boyfriend and her ex.

'Matt…' Mimi fought to get her words out, relief washing over her and almost striking her dumb.

'Shh, you're ok. Everything's gonna be ok now.' He placed her on the ground not far from the scene, where Izzy kneeled next to her, and Matt ran to Tai's assistance. It was only then that she realised what had happened. Tai must have launched himself at Michael when he threatened her, knocking the pair of them over. She looked over at the fighting men and realised that the blow had caused Michael to drop the knife, which had clearly been kicked out of the way by Tai. Speaking of Tai, Mimi had never seen a man act so viciously. He looked as though he wanted to kill Michael, his anger making his eyes gleam in a way that Mimi had never seen, and never wanted to see again. Matt attempted to pull him off the blonde, telling him that he didn't want Tai to get himself arrested as well, and Tai resisted, fighting against Matt like a man possessed while Michael struggled to get up. The sound of wailing sirens bought them to an abrupt stop, the three men freezing in their places as they realised that it was over.

'Don't move, I'm gonna go tell them where you are, ok?' Izzy put his hand on Mimi's shoulder as she nodded and watched him run to get help. Michael managed to bring himself to a standing position, Tai spat blood next to his feet, and in what felt like a moment of victory, Matt smirked, his arms still restraining his friend.

'Game's up,' he said.

'Not quite.' And with that, Michael bought his head to Tai's, causing him to slump in pain and shock, and Matt to be caught off guard with a blow to the stomach as he dropped Tai. Before either of them could make any sense of what had just happened, Michael was heading towards Mimi at a speed that scared her half to death, dragging her up and pulling her to the edge of the car park, looking over the broken railing. Mimi glanced at the ground below her and felt as though she might throw up. A crowd of people had gathered in the park to witness the scene going on above them. Tears escaping her eyes again, she frantically tried to move away from Michael, but he only held her tighter.

'Tai!' She looked at the man she loved, who looked defeated and broken, but was still trying his damnedest to get to her. The same could have been said for Matt, who was coughing at the shock of being punched in the stomach and having the air knocked out of him. They moved closer and closer, and Mimi wondered what was taking Michael so long. She glanced at him and saw the look of worry and apprehension as he paused less than a couple of inches away from the edge. Suddenly, in what must have been a moment of determination and adrenaline, the two men leapt up from the ground just as Michael stepped off, taking Mimi with him and forcing a sickening scream from her lungs.

'NO!' They did not know how they managed to pull it off, but by miracle or chance, the two men grabbed Mimi's wrists as she went over, almost being dragged off the building themselves. They held onto her with all their strength while Michael held on to Mimi, his arms wrapped around her legs and making her cry out in pain as he screamed with fury.

'Let her go! She's mine! She's always been mine!'

'Screw you, you sick fuck!' Matt shouted through gritted teeth, and he and Tai used everything they had to pull Mimi sharply, hearing a loud crack that made them wince followed by her scream, and she instantly became feather light as Michael's grip was released. The three of them heard a sickening thud as he landed, and Mimi felt herself being hauled onto solid ground. She was certain that her arm was dislocated at least, and the pain in her chest and ribs was almost preventing her from breathing, but the only sensation she cared about was that of Tai's arms around her, and his lips pressing themselves against her forehead over and over again. She felt his tears on her face, and as she felt herself slipping, there was one thing she needed to say.

'My house. It was him. Not Miya. I'm so sorry, Tai.' Her voice was a whisper as the world faded and she was left in the darkness, her mind blocking out the pain and trauma rushing through her body.

* * *

**Aaaand... I can finally breathe. Seriously, I had to rewrite this chapter five times. FIVE frickin' times! And I'm really sorry if it wasn't very good, but it's been kinda difficult to concentrate lately, I'm in a pretty dark place right now and writing seems to be somewhat distracting for the most part. I'm sure I'll feel better soon, anyhoo. I actually had a niggly worry that I might lose interest in this story and abandon it at some stage, but alas it's almost over! Chapter 22 is happening, folks... maybe coming on the 19th, and I also feel like an epilogue might be a nice way to close the story, so I'm going to start working on that soon. Thank you very much for reading, and special thanks to anyone who has sent suggestions, you're awesome and I love you :)**


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